The nineteenth-century tradition of commemorating American historical scenes on blue transfer-printed pottery had a long history by the time of the Civil War. While almost all these wares were  made in England for the United States market, this platter was of domestic manufacture. The scene depicts the charge of July 3, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg led by Confederate General George H. Pickett. Union forces repulsed the attack, marking a turning point of the war. Four roundels set within the contain portraits of the leading generals at Gettysburg: Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet for the Confederacy; Winfield Scott Hancock and George G. Meade for the Union. The Bennett factory is known to have produced transfer-printed wares, and the discovery of the original engraved plates for the borders and central scene confirms the long-standing attribution of this platter to the Bennett Company.

Related examples: Barber 1901, p. 181; Laidacker 1954, p. 5; Ketchum 1971, p. 134 and pl. 142d; Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan (Bishop and Coblentz 1982, p. 193, fig. 220); Ramsay 1939, pl. 86; McKearin 1931, p. 20,  no. 169; Antiques and The Arts Weekly, May 31,1991. p. 78 (for one sold at auction). The placement of the portrait roundels seems to vary from example to example.

Adapted from: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.