The scene depicts the harbor at Ferrara in northern Italy. On the left is the palace of the Dukes of Este, and other harbor buildings and, on the right, the canal that connects the harbor to the river Po. The ships in the foreground, however, were taken from a quite different source, which was a set of engravings published in 1832 under the title Lancashire Illustrated. The Ferrara pattern combines, therefore, an Italian harbor with Liverpool ships. The pattern was engraved originally in 1832 by William Brookes especially for Wedgwood, and is a pattern unique to them. It was printed in blue in c. 1832 and in brown about 1835. From about 1850, other colors such as pink and mulberry were added as well as some luster treatments. One of those is seen here, and it bears the printed mark with the pattern number added. The earlier versions were marked only with the impressed Wedgwood mark seen here. Ferrara was a popular pattern produced mainly on earthenware.
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