Theodore Russell Davis and Haviland & Co.
“A Special Oyster Plate”
1878-1879
Scroll
Physical Qualities
Porcelain, enamel, gilt, 8 3/4 × 8 3/4 × 1 in. (22.2 × 22.2 × 2.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Jonathan W. Kolker, Baltimore, in Memory of Irving and Rosa Kolker
Object Number
2022.173
"A Special Oyster Plate" is a design from the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Porcelain Service. Porcelain with enamels and gilt decoration. Molded, glazed, painted, gilt. 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 plate is a circular form with gently rippled and scalloped edges. Designed for realism, the plate features a cluster of oysters and seaweed floating in the ocean, which extend beyond the edges of the plate. Trompe l'oeil Blue-Point oyster half-shells are molded in relief, to hold five fresh oysters, amidst a cluster of Racoon oysters native to the South Atlantic states.
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
Haviland and Co., The White House Porcelain Service, Designs by an American Arts, illustrating exclusively American Fauna and Flora, 1879.
Meredith Galleries. "The estates of Evalyn Walch McLean and J. R. McLean by order of judge Thurman Arnols and American Security Trust," Meredith Gallieries 1948.
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1474798634
Russell, Francis. "The Shadow of Blooming Grove, Warren G. Harding in His Times," New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1968, p. 448 (this is considered a rare book, may be hard to find)
Klapthor, Margaret Brown. "Official White House China: 1789 to the Present," Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1975.
"Evalyn Walsh McLean papers, 1874-1948," Library of Congress, MSS32318 (information about Evalyn Walsh McLean in summary)
Meredith Galleries. "The estates of Evalyn Walch McLean and J. R. McLean by order of judge Thurman Arnols and American Security Trust," Meredith Gallieries 1948.
https://search.worldcat.org/title/1474798634
Russell, Francis. "The Shadow of Blooming Grove, Warren G. Harding in His Times," New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1968, p. 448 (this is considered a rare book, may be hard to find)
Klapthor, Margaret Brown. "Official White House China: 1789 to the Present," Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1975.
"Evalyn Walsh McLean papers, 1874-1948," Library of Congress, MSS32318 (information about Evalyn Walsh McLean in summary)
Inscribed: None
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 (stamped in blue); - "H & Co." (stamped factory mark in green)
