Description:
By 1815, after the trade disruptions caused by the War of 1812, British potters were eager to get their wares flowing back into North American ports. They produced patterns specifically designed to appeal to this market, featuring American monuments, buildings, and landscapes. Circular plate, decorated in underglaze blue with a transfer printed design, made by Ralph Stevenson & Son of Cobridge, Staffordshire with a view of the Old Hartford State House (Hartford, CT), surrounded by a border of flowers and leaves. Printed in blue on the reverse is the plate's pattern name: "State House / Hartford." The State House in Hartford is attributed to the architect Charles Bullfinch. In this view, the building lacks the distinctive cupola that was added in 1826, which helps date the pattern. The reverse also features the impressed mark "STEVENSON," above a masted ship. Sherds of a virtually identical plate were discovered during a 1977 excavation of the Southmayd/Vansand house site in Middletown, CT by Wesleyan University.

Tags:
civic centers

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2020.32

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