This pearlware platter with a transfer-printed scene of a boy piping to sheep belonged to Joanna Smith, wife of Ebenezer Hinsdale Williams of Deerfield, Massachusetts. Pearlware, a modification of the earlier cream-colored earthenware, was introduced in England in the second half of the 18th century. At that time, transfer-printed designs began to take the place of hand-painting. The border is composed of a ring of primroses and heartsease.