From as early as the latter part of the 17th century, the district of Staffordshire has been the center of the pottery industry in England. Staffordshire china was produced exclusively by English potters from 1820 to 1850 in the district of Staffordshire, northwest of London, for the American trade after the War of 1812. Staffordshire is a relatively small area about 10 miles long and 5 miles wide but the district is rich in deposits of clay and supplied potters with an abundance of high quality clay for their ceramics. In 1830, an estimated 50,000 people worked in the potteries in Stoke-Upon-Trent, the major city in Staffordshire and the surrounding small towns, such as Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Cobridge, Fenton and Longton. While interest in and purchase of historical Staffordshire china began to wane by 1860,by the end of the 19th century, however, collectors rekindled an interest in extant pieces of this ware which persists today. Pieces of this china that sold originally in the early half of the 19th century for several pence, today can bring hundreds and even thousands of dollars at auction or from antiques dealers specializing in this china.

Points of interest in the major American cities, such as churches, asylums, banks, exchanges, courthouses, athenaeums, hospitals, college buildings and battle monuments, were particularly popular with some potters, yet not all of the Staffordshire potters engaged in producing china with historical views of America. For those who did, however, the rewards were very gratifying and lucrative since many citizens of the new Republic were looking for avenues to express their patriotism to the United States after the Revolution and the War of 1812. The entrepreneurial English potters capitalized on this potentially new large market in America for their wares and thereby satisfied the wishes of the American public with the historical views on china. Sometimes Staffordshire potters produced many different scenes, whereas others limited their production to only a few views. /www.philaantiques.com/exhibit/2003loan.pdf>