Plate

This blue and white transfer-printed earthenware plate made by the Staffordshire firm of Enoch Wood & Sons features a view of Gilpin’s Paper Mills on the Brandywine Creek in Wilmington, Delaware. The Mills stood on Gideon Gilpin's farm where a wounded General Lafayette (1757–1834) was carried from the Battle of Brandywine during the American Revolutionary War. Lafayette revisited the farm during his historic visit to the United States in 1824. The Mills were also famous for operating the first cylinder paper machine in America beginning in about 1817 at one of the mills operated by Thomas Gilpin, Gideon’s son. Wood & Sons based its view of the Mills on a drawing by Philadelphia artist B. K. Fox (active ca. 1828–1835) reproduced as an engraving in about 1820 by Philadelphia engraver J. (Jacob?) Lybrand (active 1820s). Wood & Sons included the view in its series of approximately thirty-one Canadian and American scenic views with symmetrical shell borders produced for the North American export market. The American Wing's collection contains additional pieces by Wood & Sons. Refer to the Dictionary for a definition of the term "transfer printing" and for information about Wood & Sons.