Tea service depicting Lafayette at Benjamin Franklin's Tomb

So-called “Historical Blue”—blue and white ceramic ware with detailed scenes of notable historical personalities and events—was immensely popular in America in the first half of the 19th century. Produced in potteries throughout the United Kingdom, its detailed decorative images were made using a transfer-printing process first introduced on British porcelain in the mid-18th century and widely used on earthenware after the 1780s. With images taken from a variety of sources, much of it was made for the American market. It reflected the level of patriotism and national pride that existed in the aftermath of the American Revolution and the War of 1812. The image depicted on all three pieces of this tea service refers to the Marquis de Lafayette, a friend of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and a key figure in the Revolutionary War. It commemorates Lafayette’s much celebrated 1824 tour of the United States and, more specifically, his visit to the grave of Benjamin Franklin.