AMERICAN 
HOMES AND GARDENS 
June, 1911 
“Junction of the Sacondaga and Hudson Rivers’’ platter 
temporary print or from some drawing or painting of the 
old Capitol building which existed at the time. These plates 
showing the Capitol view are not very rare or valuable, but 
they are of much interest. 
In a majority of cases the name of the picture on a 
plate along with that of the potter who made it is stamped 
in blue lettering on the back. ‘The employees in these Eng- 
lish potteries had probably never been in America and all 
the views were unfamiliar to them. It was undoubtedly 
due to this fact that many errors in marking plates occurred. 
Frequently we find the wrong name on the back of a plate. 
Some friends of mine have the little plate of the ‘Old 
Capitol Building at Washington” and the name on the back 
of it is: ‘“‘Mount Vernon, seat of the Government of the 
United States.’’ I have seen a “Battle of Bunker Hill” 
platter which was marked ‘Fort Gansevoort.” 
The “Governors Island” ten-inch soup plate is a unique 
specimen. It is one of the most beautiful, besides being one 
of the rarest of American views. Its color is the best blue 
known. I know of the existence of five of these plates. 
Should others be discovered the value will decline in pro- 
portion to the number found. At present $500 about ex- 
presses the market value of this piece. 
Our next illustration shows a washbowl in the bottom of 
which is the “Arms of Maryland.” The Arms of twelve 
of the thirteen original States appear on this blue china. 
(The Arms of New Hampshire are missing). 
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“Brooklyn Ferry”’ platter 
“Esplanade and Castle Garden’’ platter 
Of these twelve Arms pieces the three plates which re- 
produce the Arms of New York, Rhode Island and South 
Carolina are not rare. They are worth about $30 each. 
The Arms of Massachusetts come on a small vegetable 
dish. It is moderately scarce and is worth about $75. All 
the other Arms pieces are rare: Pennsylvania, Connecti- 
cut, Maryland, North Carolina, Delaware, Virginia, 
Georgia and New Jersey. 
If one could buy these eight pieces for $2,500 he would 
be fortunate. Pennsylvania is probably the hardest one to 
find. The others are equally rare. I do not know of any 
collection which has them all. 
Views of the New York churches are not easy to get in 
old blue. Only one or two of the best collections have the 
ten-inch soup plate, “Church and Buildings Adjoining 
Miutraye street. IN. Yeu 
It ranks with the “Governors Island”’ plate in rarity and 
value and is just a shade harder to find. The little seven- 
inch dish “Dr. Mason’s Church” is the same building which 
appears on the ten-inch soup plate just mentioned. It is 
not nearly so rare, but in good condition brings about $150. 
Next in importance to the “Church and Buildings Ad- 
joining Murray Street” is the little six-and-one-half-inch “‘St. 
Paul’s Chapel” plate with a medallion of Washington on 
the upper margin and the Erie Canal view at the bottom. 
I only know of one collection which has it, but I am not 
sure that there is not another one somewhere. It is safe to 
Washington vegetable dish: ‘“Mount Vernon’ 
