Blue transfer-decorated teapot with image of American Commodore Thomas MacDonnough's victory over British forces on Lake Champlain, 1814

teapot

Blue Staffordshire china teapot with helmut top, commemorating MacDonough's Victory on Lake Champlain. Printed on each side, "Commodore MacDonnough/ Victory." Shows two men watching two ships fighting with five sloops in the background. The bottom is stamped "14".

If you were living during the War of 1812, you would have been proud of Master Commandant Thomas MacDonough of the U.S. Navy. When it appeared that the British would invade New York from Canada, a fleet commanded by MacDonough stopped them during a naval battle at Plattsburgh Bay in September 1814. Soon after, the British agreed to negotiate an end to the war.

A young country needed heroes, and MacDonough�s exploits against the British fleet on Lake Champlain became a source of inspiration and national pride. If you had artistic talent, you may have been inspired to carefully carve a whale's tooth with a scene depicting his victory. Or you may have expressed your patriotism by having a likeness of MacDonough in your home. Ironically, even the British celebrated, or actually profited from, MacDonough's victory. They exported these teapots with scenes of the battle on Lake Champlain.