Some unknown Staffordshire potter took aim at the patriotic American market with this dark blue pearlware salad plate praising the Erie Canal. Blossoms separate four scenic reserves around the border depicting views of the canal boats and locks to be seen along this new manmade wonder. 

In the center an inscription, executed in the manner of a classical stone tablet,  pays tribute not only to the engineering wonder, but the energy of the driving force in its accomplishment, Governor DeWitt Clinton. 

The engraved printing plates used in the transfer process had limited duration.  Replacement plates often feature subtle variations and, in this case, an obvious update. Plates in this pattern fall into two groups. Some, like this example, refer to our hero as DeWitt Clinton, "governor of the state." Reference sources refer to these views as "Erie Canal Inscription, DeWitt Clinton Governor Eulogy". Others add the sad adjective "Late" and the scholarly designation becomes the even more cumbersome: "DeWitt Clinton, Late Governor Eulogy."  We assume the changes reflect production after the governor's sudden death in 1828.