Theodore Russell Davis and Haviland & Co.
“The Blue Crab” Soup Plate
1878-1879
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Physical Qualities
Porcelain, enamel, gilt, 8 7/8 × 9 × 1 3/4 in. (22.5 × 22.9 × 4.4 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Jonathan W. Kolker, Baltimore, in Memory of Irving and Rosa Kolker
Object Number
2022.171
"The Blue Crab" soup plate is a design from the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Porcelain Service. Porcelain with enamels and gilt decoration. The colors were applied using chromolithographic and decalcomania processes. Afterwards, decorators painted the plate with enamel colors to add shading and to enhance the design. Finally, the edges were gilt. The shape of the soup plate was modeled after the a mountain laurel, with slight points indicating the tips of the flower petals. The richly-colored design features a coastal scene with a blue crab on a rocky shore foraging around a grassy outcrop.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 2022; Jonathan W. Kolker, Baltimore, MD by descent, 1980s; Irving Mason (1895-1957) and Rosa Jacobson Kolker (1907-1998), Baltimore, MD by purchase
Inscribed: Recto: artist's initials "TD. [overlapping]" in enamel
Markings: On underside: - [American eagle with spread wings and Seal of United States in polychrome enamels]; - "Theo: R. Davis." (Facsimile signature in black); - "FABRIQUÉ PAR / HAVILAND & Co./ d’aprés les dessins / DE" (stamped in orange-red); - "DESIGN PATENTED / AUGUST 10th 1880 / No: 11933 (stamped in blue); - "H & Co." (stamped factory mark in green)
Designer
Theodore Russell Davis
1839–1893
Boston, MA 1840-1894 Asbury Park, NJ
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