John Gardner Ladd was among the merchants who made Alexandria a bustling port city at the end of the 18th century. Merchants traded with foreign ports, bringing ships and imported goods to Alexandria from Europe, the West Indies and the Orient. While some merchants had King Street shops, Ladd was among those who sold goods directly from a warehouse on the wharves. Although much of the trade was wholesale to shopkeepers and country merchants, goods were also offered retail to the public. In 1798 Ladd advertised a "few Tea Sets of China, in boxes, Queen's ware in crates...wine...teas in chests, also a quantity of Peruvian Bark, Opium, and other drugs" among his goods.

Until the Revolutionary War, Chinese merchandise was transhipped to America by way of England. The first American ship went to China in 1784 and the China Trade peaked in the early years of the 19th century.

Ladd's advertisements in the Alexandria Gazette do not specify if his merchandise was imported directly from China, or via Europe. Other Alexandria merchants in the last years of the 18th century continued to receive Chinese porcelain, tea, and fabrics on ships from European ports such as London and Lisbon.

An example of "a few Tea Sets of China, in boxes," advertised by John Gardner Ladd in 1798. This porcelain tea" pot was one of 22 broken pieces of a set found at a residential site.