Cup Plate
This blue and white transfer-printed earthenware cup plate made by the Staffordshire firm of Ralph Stevenson & Williams features a view of the American Museum in New York. The Museum building was erected in 1796 for use originally as an alms house. In 1817 it was taken over by the Museum, which was organized in 1790 by the Tammany Society and was initially called the Tammany Museum. Subsequently it became known as Scudder’s American Museum when it was managed by Dr. John Scudder (?–1821) from 1810 to 1821. The building also housed The New York Institution for meetings of the American Academy of Arts, the New-York Historical Society, the Literary and Philosophical Society and the Lyceum of Natural History. In 1830 the Museum moved to a new location at Broadway and Ann Street and the original building was converted to city offices until it burned in 1854. In an era when cultural institutions such as museums, theatres and concert halls were a relatively novel form of entertainment for the general public and represented new uses of architecture, they were among the more rare subjects chosen for transfer-printed wares. The view by Stevenson & Williams belongs to a series of approximately sixteen American views with standard acorn-and-oak-leaf borders produced for the United States export market. It was based on an anonymous lithograph titled "From an original drawing. New York City Hall Park. North End. 1825.,” which may have been after an 1822 drawing by New York artist Arthur J. Stansbury (1781–ca. 1845). The ceramic version omits a number of buildings appearing in the lithograph, leaving only the Museum and part of the original 1757 debtors' prison to the right. The American Wing’s collection contains additional pieces by Stevenson & Williams. Refer to the Dictionary for a definition of the term "transfer printing" and for information about Stevenson & Williams.
Artwork Details
- Title: Cup Plate
- Maker: Ralph Stevenson & Williams (active ca. 1825–27)
- Date: ca. 1825–ca. 1827
- Geography: Made in Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, England
- Culture: British (American market)
- Medium: Earthenware, transfer-printed
- Dimensions: Diam. 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm)
- Credit Line: Bequest of Mary Mandeville Johnston, from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Edward W. S. Johnston, 1914
- Object Number: 14.102.53
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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Possibly Ralph Stevenson & Williams (active ca. 1825–27)
ca. 1825–ca. 1827
Ralph Stevenson & Williams (active ca. 1825–27)
ca. 1825–ca. 1827
Possibly Ralph Stevenson & Williams (active ca. 1825–27)
ca. 1825–ca. 1827
Ralph Stevenson & Williams (active ca. 1825–27)
ca. 1825–ca. 1827
Enoch Wood & Sons (British, active Burslem, 1818–46)
ca. 1841–ca. 1846
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