Section of a ceramic relief plaque, made in Aalen, Württemberg, showing numerous merchant figures charging inflated prices for grains and other scarce foodstuffs

Section of a ceramic relief plaque, made in Aalen, Württemberg, showing numerous merchant figures charging inflated prices for grains and other scarce foodstuffs during the post-Napoleonic years of migration. Its title reads:

“To Posterity – In memory of those in the years 1815/16/17, a wretched and expensive time” (Zum andenken, jener in den Jahren 1815/16/17, jammervollen theuren Zeit der Nachwelt). Prepared by J. Conr. Kaufmann in Aalen

The use of present tense at various points on the plaque, as well as the dating “1817” on the sacks of grain, suggests that it was produced contemporaneously; its discovery in the United States suggests that it may have been carried there by immigrants of the era.