Unknown
Plate, 'The Tyrant's Foe, The People's Friend'circa 1840

On view:

Geffen Galleries, Transatlantic Exchange and Its Legacies

Blue transfer-printed earthenware plate with scalloped rim, decorated with American eagles, scrolling oak leaves, and a central field of printed text quoting the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Plate, 'The Tyrant's Foe, The People's Friend'
Place Made: England, probably Staffordshire
Date Made: circa 1840
Medium: Earthenware, blue transfer printed decoration
Dimensions: Diameter: 10 1/2 in. (26.67 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the Hearst Corporation
Accession Number: 50.28.23
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: In the early nineteenth century, Staffordshire potteries in England produced vast quantities of inexpensive tableware with transfer-printed decoration specifically for export to a growing market in the United States. Popular subjects included views of American cities and historical monuments, as well as patriotic and political themes. Filling the center of this plate is text from the first of ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights. At either side, framed by American eagles, are quotes adapted from the Declaration of Independence and the Bible evoking racial equality. At the top of the plate, a small vignette shows a printing press with a figure of Liberty standing beside a kneeling Black man and the caption, “The Tyrant’s Foe, The People’s Friend.” At the bottom of the plate, a similar vignette contains scales of justice.

This plate was intended to appeal to antislavery sympathizers. It commemorates Elijah P. Lovejoy (1802−1837), editor of a newspaper in Alton, Illinois, who faced down an angry proslavery mob after they had thrown his printing presses into the Mississippi River. Killed while defending freedom of the press and of speech, Lovejoy became a martyr for the abolitionist cause, which was originally supported by the sale of these plates.
Selected Bibliography: Levkoff, Mary L., ed. Hearst the collector. Exh. Cat. New York: Abrams and Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2008.

Unknown
Plate, 'The Tyrant's Foe, The People's Friend'circa 1840

On view:

Geffen Galleries, Transatlantic Exchange and Its Legacies

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Plate, 'The Tyrant's Foe, The People's Friend'
Place Made: England, probably Staffordshire
Date Made: circa 1840
Medium: Earthenware, blue transfer printed decoration
Dimensions: Diameter: 10 1/2 in. (26.67 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the Hearst Corporation
Accession Number: 50.28.23
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: In the early nineteenth century, Staffordshire potteries in England produced vast quantities of inexpensive tableware with transfer-printed decoration specifically for export to a growing market in the United States. Popular subjects included views of American cities and historical monuments, as well as patriotic and political themes. Filling the center of this plate is text from the first of ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights. At either side, framed by American eagles, are quotes adapted from the Declaration of Independence and the Bible evoking racial equality. At the top of the plate, a small vignette shows a printing press with a figure of Liberty standing beside a kneeling Black man and the caption, “The Tyrant’s Foe, The People’s Friend.” At the bottom of the plate, a similar vignette contains scales of justice.

This plate was intended to appeal to antislavery sympathizers. It commemorates Elijah P. Lovejoy (1802−1837), editor of a newspaper in Alton, Illinois, who faced down an angry proslavery mob after they had thrown his printing presses into the Mississippi River. Killed while defending freedom of the press and of speech, Lovejoy became a martyr for the abolitionist cause, which was originally supported by the sale of these plates.
Selected Bibliography: Levkoff, Mary L., ed. Hearst the collector. Exh. Cat. New York: Abrams and Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2008.