Theodore Russell Davis and Haviland & Co.
“Bob White” Game Plate
1878-1885
Scroll
Physical Qualities
Porcelain, enamel, gilt, 9 × 9 1/8 × 1 in. (22.9 × 23.2 × 2.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Frederica Kolker Saxon, Baltimore, in Memory of Irving and Rosa Kolker
Object Number
2022.180
"Bob White" game 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 plate is a classic round shape. The design features cock and hen Bob Whites, also known as quails, comfortably sheltered under crossed pine boughs on a dark winter day. They nestle in a depression that has been formed in the snow by the wind, which has also scattered the autumn leaves in the foreground.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 2022; Frederica K. Saxon (1933-2025), 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: Recto: artist's initial "D" 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: 1193 (stamped in blue); - "H & Co." (stamped factory mark in green)
