Corn, a native plant of the New World, conveyed specifically American connotations when used as a decorative motif.  Molded porcelain pitchers, such as the present example, were first produced by factories in Greenpoint, New York, in about 1850.  This pitcher exemplifies the widespread adaptation of porcelain forms to the mass market of Rockingham-glazed earthenware.

Book excerpt: 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.