Here, as it appeared in Canadian Scenery, is the steel engraving which Francis Morley & Co. adapted for use on earthenware plates (illustration 5).
The engravings themselves were advertised in Canada before they appeared on dinner tables, and it was undoubtedly the popularity of the views of W.H. Bartlett, one of the best known topographical artists of the day, which prompted their ceramic use. One of the Canadian advertisements for this particular series of views, published in London by James 5. Virtue, appeared in Fredericton's Royal Gazette on October 21, 1840:
NEW ILLUSTRATED PUBLICATIONS...
Canadian Scenery Illustrated, FROM original Drawings by W.H. Bartlett, whose labors have already illustrated Scotland, Switzerland...&c...
Ceramic adaptations of the views were on the market a few years later. Over a dozen were used by Staffordshire potters, including not only Morley but Podmore, Walker & Co. (illustration 2). In making the adaptations, the ceramic engraver had to consider the size and shape of a piece to be decorated, but changes also reflected the potter's notion of more attractive tableware design. Note, among other changes, the view on the plate in illustration 5 has several animated figures in place of the lone figure (left foreground) sketched by Bartlett.
