Platter, "Niagara from the American Side"

Even an object as mundane as a platter for serving food can be infused with a sense of place. Transfer-printed earthenware was made in England specifically for sale to American consumers. Here, Niagara Falls, an image of the grandeur and power of the continent, transforms a practical object into an evocative statement of pride in place. The blue-and-white palette makes reference to Asian ceramics, such as the example shown nearby, which had been imported for centuries but had not been successfully imitated until the decades immediately before the English piece was made.