The small blue-and-white English pitcher is boldly emblazoned with the Great Seal of the United States. After the American Revolution, British factories produced patriotic-themed wares for citizens of newly independent America, despite having lost their Colonial territory. Ceramics were a major export of the British Empire and England household ceramics well into the 19th century. American potters produced primarily utilitarian stoneware vessels, vital to the thriving agricultural markets. Finer materials, like porcelain, were usually imported. William Ellis Tucker's factory in downtown Philadelphia was one of the earliest American companies to create porcelain which rivaled European dinnerware. Here, exquisitely painted floral ornament and gilding recall "Old Paris" porcelain made in Europe prior to the French Revolution.