Founded in 1826 in an old Philadelphia city waterworks by William Ellis Tucker (1800 - 1832), Tucker porcelains imitated and were intended to compete with fashionable imported French porcelains. The factory produced hollow wares in both simple white with gilt decoration (lot 67), as well as more elaborately embellished over-glaze enamel-painted polychrome floral and landscape scenes. While the initial manufactory was funded largely by Tucker's father, Benjamin Tucker, several other partners also invested in the pottery. These included John Bird (1826 - 1827), John Hulme (1827), and Judge Joseph Hemphill (1832 - 1838), the last of whom maintained the factory after Tucker's death in 1832. The lack of protective tariffs at the time of Tucker's experiment allowed foreign goods to undersell American-made wares. This, in conjunction with the personal financial problems of Judge Hemphill and the national bank failure of 1837, caused the Tucker China Factory to close finally in 1838. For further information, see Sewell, et al, Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art (Philadelphia, 1976), pp. 293 - 294.