June, 1911 
platter is the hardest to find and is usually among the last 
dozen to come into a collection. 
The platter shown in the illustration called “Junction 
of the Sacondaga 
and Hudson Riv- 
ers’ is one of the 
most difficult of all 
American views to 
obtain. This scene 
is copied from a 
pemt by W..G. 
Wall. I only know 
of the existence of 
four of these plat- 
ters and it would be 
hard to estimate on 
their value. Should 
the piece ever ap- 
pear at a public auc- 
tion and should col- 
Three varieties of plates: 
lectors get bidding against each other for it, it might run up 
to a very high price. 
Another platter illustrated in this article, and in the 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
237] 
not have this ‘Brooklyn Ferry’ platter and said he would 
highly appreciate it if I would let him know if I ever came 
across one which was for sale. Considering the excellence of 
V4 AAT Ze 
rips Fave, 
45 iy ey 
“Nahant, near Boston” 
Mr. Tompkins’ col- 
lection and the 
length of time he 
had been collecting 
this is significant, 
and throws much 
light upon the rarity 
of this platter, 
which he had never 
been able to secure. 
The next four il- 
lustrations show two 
views of Mount 
Vernon and two 
views of the Capitol 
at Washington. 
The following quo- 
tation relative to the residence of our first President may be 
of interest: ““The Mount Vernon mansion was built by 
George Washington’s brother, Lawrence, who settled there 
Soup tureen: ““Pennsylvania Hospital,’ on sides; ‘““Boston Almshouse,”’ Inside of tureen: “Battle of Bunker Hil!”’ 
on cover 
finding of which all collectors have experienced great 
trouble, is “The Esplanade and Castle Garden’’ platter. 
in 1743 and named the estate in honor of Admiral Vernon, 
under whommneehacdaserved) = ~ ~ ~*~ lin 1858 the 
It is not so difficult to ob- 
tain as the piece just de- 
scribed, but it is one of the 
rarest of the American 
views. I have known col- 
lectors who paid as high 
as $500 for it. While 
this platter comes in sev- 
eral shades of blue, it is 
one of the pieces which ex- 
emplifies the very finest 
shade and quality of blue 
used by the Staffordshire 
potters, which, in this ex- 
tremely fine color, is worth 
more than one in the ordin- 
ary shade of blue. 
Another unusual and 
very rare piece is the small 
“Brooklyn Ferry” platter 
with the ivy leaf border. 
Some of the best existing 
collections are without this piece. 
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“Battle of Bunker Hill’’ platter 
I remember distinctly a 
letter I received from the late Eugene Tompkins, of Boston, 
in which he asked me if I would bear in mind that he did 
mansion and two hundred 
acres were sold for two 
hundred thousand dollars 
to the Ladies’ Mount Ver- 
non Association.” ‘This 
little plate and vegetable 
dish showing the view of 
Mount Vernon are not 
very hard to find and have 
not any unusual commercial 
value. Two views of the 
Capitol building at Wash- 
ington appear in the illu- 
strations. The old Capitol 
building was burned by the 
British in 1814 and the sub- 
sequent Capitol building 
which took its place is 
shown in the accompanying 
view. The artists sent over 
here by the English potters 
to make sketches, coming 
as they did about 1818 to 1820, could not have sketched 
the old Capitol building while it was standing. 
We there- 
fore infer that they obtained this picture from a con- 
