Plate

This black and white transfer-printed earthenware soup plate made by the Staffordshire firm of William Ridgway & Co. features a view of the Hudson River from the Ruggles House in the historic town of Newburgh, New York. The view belongs to a series of approximately sixteen American views commonly known as "American Scenery" produced for the United States export market beginning in the 1840s. Located about ten miles above West Point and about sixty miles from New York, Newburgh was an important nineteenth-century river port, furnishing farm-grown produce and other goods to towns and cities located down-river. A popular subject for transfer-printed export wares, views of Newburgh also decorated earlier pieces by James & Ralph Clews (ca. 1815–1834) and Job & John Jackson (1831–1835). Ridgway's view of Newburgh was based on a drawing by English artist William Henry Bartlett (1809–1854) engraved by English landscape engraver Robert Brandard (1805–1862) and reproduced as "View from Ruggle's House, Newburgh. (Hudson River)" in Nathaniel Parker Willis' "American Scenery" (London, 1840). Bartlett was among the finest topographical draftsmen of the nineteenth century. Over one hundred of his drawings were published in “American Scenery," which established the route for the “American Grand Tour" and became one of the most influential travel books of the period. The Museum's collection contains additional pieces by Ridgway, as well as original works by Bartlett and various editions of "American Scenery." Bartlett's scenes also inspired decoration on wares by other firms, including views on four pieces, 14.102.219, 14.102.220, 14.102.267 and 14.102.316, from the "Catskill Moss" series by William Ridgway, Son & Co. (ca. 1836–1848) in the collection. Refer to the Dictionary for a definition of the term “transfer printing" and for information about the Ridgway firms.