“The Nation’s Guest and Our Country’s Glory”: Lafayette on Ceramics from Philadelphia

In 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American Revolution, returned to the United States for a tour of the nation that he helped create. This presentation will examine how Americans commemorated and celebrated Lafayette with English transfer-printed earthenwares decorated with his portrait, his home in France, and key moments of his visit that were excavated in Philadelphia. Ron Fuchs II is the editor of Ceramics in America and has served as a curator of ceramics for more than 20 years, first at the Winterthur Museum and then at the Reeves Museum of Ceramics at Washington and Lee University. He specializes in Chinese and Japanese export porcelain and English ceramics made for the American market. He lives in Gettysburg.