An agent or salesperson was a common sight in major cities in 19th century America, everywhere from Boston to New York City to Philadelphia and Baltimore, basically anywhere there was a good sized population with needs. A large painted terracotta charger or plate in likely its original gold painted wood frame was recently discovered in Bucks County, Pa., and this object may provide some previously forgotten information about a specific agent located in Philadelphia toward the end of the 19th century. Furthermore, this type of plate was also produced by Galloway & Graff in Philadelphia, when William Galloway (about 1838-1913) and John Graff formed a partnership in 1868 to continue an older business established in 1810 (as cited on post 1868 advertising), although not a lot is known about this earlier company. Their firm was located at 1723-1725 Market Street near 18th Street, where they specialized in utilitarian and ornamental terracotta. The firms physical plant was moved to Walnut Street near 32nd Street in 1889, whereas the company was operating under the name William Galloway by 1893, and the company was incorporated as the Galloway Terra-Cotta Company in 1911, with Galloways son, William B., as president, and continued producing pottery until at least 1941. The recently discovered plate is stamped on the back Coulter & Long / Philadelphia, PA, and the font size is different than the Galloway & Graff mark. Interestingly, painted decorative red earthenware or terracotta from the second-half of the 19th century is a type of production found throughout the American Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic regions, and in some cases, it is known that these objects were cold painted at the factory after that they were produced and fired in the kiln. But in other instances, the potteries sold these undecorated objects or blanks so the original owner could decorate them in the style they desired. But this plate was not decorated at the factory where it was produced (possibly by Galloway & Graff), nor was it painted by an original owner. Instead, the artwork, which features white daffodils on top of a red background, is signed C&L 1883; the C&L most likely represents Coulter & Long. This is the first time I can recall seeing a piece of painted American pottery from the 1880s that appears to have been done so under the direction of a sales agent. This certainly sparked my curiosity, especially in consideration that during the late 1870s and 1880s, American women began painting ceramics. Some of these women are noted artists today, such as Mary Louise McLaughlin (1847-1939), Cecilia Beaux (1855-1942), Rosina Emmet (1854-1948) and Celia Thaxter (1835-94). But for every established artist, there was an unprecedented number of amateur artists during this period. According to an article written by Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen and Barbara Veith for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in April 2013, titled, Women China Decorators, During the late 1870s, a china-decorating fervor swept the United States that persisted into the early 20th century. Thousands of women employed paint brushes and china paints and decorated ceramic objects for their homes, as gifts, and for sale. China painting was socially acceptable because it allowed women to create artistic objects for the home. Organizations such as the Society of Decorative Art in New York City and, later, the Womens Exchange provided venues for women to exhibit and sell their work. In addition, prior to the 1870s, respectable employment opportunities for working-class women were limited to domestic service and factory or shop work. Art schools such as the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, in New York City, and the Philadelphia School of Design for Women offered training in china decorating and pottery painting to prepare women for careers as artisans or designers. The amateur china painting movement made its first organized appearance in the Midwest. In 1873, in Cincinnati, Ohio, German immigrant and ceramic chemist Karl Langenbeck taught Maria Longworth Nichols (1849-1932), future founder of the Rookwood Pottery, how to paint on china. The following year, Nichols enrolled in the Cincinnati School of Design. Shortly thereafter, Benn Pittman, an art instructor at the Cincinnati School of Design, began conducting china-painting classes for female students. Mary Louise McLaughlin was among his students. A display of the students work in the Womens Pavilion at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia had a catalytic effect on the nationwide interest in china painting. Over the next five years, Nichols and McLaughlin evolved from amateur china painters into extraordinarily successful artists who designed and decorated their own wares. Serious rivals, they both received widespread critical acclaim and produced vessels considered among the foremost examples of art pottery in the United States. Among the known subjects found on the painted plates or chargers today bearing the Coulter & Long / Philadelphia, PA mark impressed on the back are floral scenes, a young boy, a dog and Helen of Troy. These are all subjects that are indicative of art produced during the American Victorian era, but also the type of artwork that would have been painted by amateur and professional female artists on china blanks. Another notable terracotta plate bearing the Coulter & Long mark sold at Doyle New York in 1998; the plate was described as decorated with a mounted warrior wearing a war bonnet painted in red, white, yellow, turquoise and black on a tan background, with yellow, black and turquoise trim. The provenance was also noteworthy: Wannapin (1861-1906), a Brule Sioux, who was born south of the White River Dakota Territory, which later became known as South Dakota. He was the son of Thunder-fire, who was the nephew of Chief Medicine Bull and cousin of Samuel Medicine Bull. He attended the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Hampton, Va. This was where he was introduced to the art of pottery painting, and he expressed his ideas in the ledger style that is often seen in ledger books and hide paintings of the Plains Indians. Now whether some of these terracotta plates from Philadelphia were painted by amateur female artists, it is not completely known and should not be ruled out. These objects are works of art and amazing survivors considering the size of some of these decorative plates. They also represent a strong Philadelphia history from the late 1800s, which includes a terracotta manufacturer, an agent, in some cases a framer and the artist. It is really a type of production that I think deserves more attention today.