This cup and saucer set was made in Staffordshire, England, for export to the American market. The design was taken from an "old print" depicting the Chancellor Livingston that New York artist Samuel Ward Stanton reproduced in his 1895 book American Steam Vessels. (Stanton would later drown in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.) Stanton altered the original image when he reproduced it. As depicted on this plate, the original version of the print shows the ship from the side and with billowing sails. Stanton’s version altered the sails and turned the ship.

The Chancellor Livingston was built in 1816. She was one of the most important steamships plowing the Hudson River until 1828, when she was transferred to the water route between New York and Providence, R.I. The steamer brought the Committee of Welcome to greet General Lafayette when he visited New York in 1824 and appears on some of the ceramics commemorating that event.