A busily populated urban square is dominated by a large building whose pedimented entrance testifies to the classical influence on early American public architecture. The Baltimore Court House, built in 1808, is long gone today, but this view records the manner in which its dome, with its interesting hexagonal drum, stood proudly against the sky. The border with alternating bunches of fruit and flowers links the pattern to other views by the potter who marked the plate with its subject, but not with its maker's identity.

The plate's maker was still unidentified when Ellouise Baker Larsen wrote her classic compendium of historical transfer views. Later researchers such as Jeffrey Snyder tell us that Henshall, Williamson & Co. was one of the smaller Staffordshire potters, but known for quality products--as this sharply printed plate attests (Snyder, Historical Staffordshire: American Patriots & Views, 1995).