Western trade with the Orient in the 17^th&18^th centuries conjures up the finest in luxury goods such as silk, spice, tea & porcelain.  Blue & white porcelains, hand-painted with pictures of pagodas, chrysanthemums & rivers called "export ware" were a treat for the wealthy Europeans looking for a window into the exotic world.  Hand-painting as we all know hardly comes cheaply. Back then, goods traveling on a slow boat from China certainly did not come cheaply either.Time, like quality hand-work, is money.
But by the mid-18^th c. English pottery factories in the Staffordshire region came up with a solution to transfer, if you will, the idea of the export ware closer to home with the invention of transfer printing.  Ink of any color is transferred from an engraved copper plate to tissue paper which is then applied to a fired ceramic form (or body).  The piece is fired again at a lower temperature to set the ink design, then glazed & fired a final time at high temperature.  The result is a finely designed, uniform & durable product of good quality, produced at a fraction of the cost of Chinese export ware.

It became a popular source of table top for the growing middle class households including specialty items for children. By the early 19^thc. the range expanded well beyond the popular choice of blue & white chinoiserie ("in the Chinese style"). Other exotic scenes emerged such as views of India and Egypt.  Closer to home themes such as slices of the domestic life and pleasures of the countryside emerged as well as

documentation of American patriots and landmarks.

Later in the 19th c. the influence of the Arts & Crafts, Aesthetic Movement and Anglo-Japanese styles brought about more floral, Japanese motifs such as fans with earthy ink colors mainly of brown and green.