Ceramics were major cargo on the maritime trade routes of the 16th to 18th centuries, and potters through the 20th century capitalized on the intertwined relationship between ceramics and the ocean through decorative imagery. Ceramicists alluded to the sea by molding real shells and creatures, creating water-like droplets of glaze, and painting or printing scenes of shores and shipbuilders in Europe and the Americas. The prevalence of oceanic imagery on domestic objects like plates, vases, and tureens also reveals the owner’s personal investment in colonial and maritime activities.