Plate

This blue and white transfer-printed earthenware plate made by the Staffordshire firm of Joseph Stubbs features a view of the Mendenhall Ferry on the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The ferry was a primitive eighteenth-century rope ferry that could carry about two people and a horse across the river as depicted on the plate. The building on the left bank was the Mendenhall Inn, a popular vacation resort for Philadelphians. The two homes on the far bank belonged to a resident by the name of Joseph Sims (n.d.) and to Dr. Syng Physick (1768–1837), a famous Philadelphia surgeon. The view on the plate was based on a drawing by English-born Philadelphia artist William Birch (1755–1834) engraved and published by the artist as "Mendenhall Ferry. Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, Opposite Laurel Hill." in William Birch & Sons's "The Country Seats of the United States of North America, with Some Scenes Connected with Them" (Springland, Pennsylvania, 1808). Stubbs included the view in its series of approximately seventeen architectural and scenic American views produced for the United States export market with a border of spread eagles, flowers and scrolls. Birch drawings also inspired views on other pieces from the series. See 14.102.236, 14.102.250 and 40.150.323. The American Wing's collection also contains additional pieces by Stubbs. Refer to the Dictionary for a definition of the term "transfer printing" and for information about Stubbs.