Theodore Russell Davis and Haviland & Co.
Sauceboat
1878-1885
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Physical Qualities
Porcelain, enamel, gilt, 4 1/8 × 10 3/8 × 5 1/8 in. (10.5 × 26.4 × 13 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Frederica Kolker Saxon, Baltimore, in Memory of Irving and Rosa Kolker
Object Number
2022.187
This sauceboat 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 sauceboat with attached underplate is oblong with a deep bowl and a molded "basket-weave" gilt edge and handle. The design features a tranquil aquatic scene of happenings under water. Inside the bowl are fronds of pink seaweed, and on the outside, two large fish swim with a school of smaller ones through other marine plants along a sandy bed. The underplate is decorated with a crab, a mollusk, and more seaweed. On the bottom of the sauceboat is a picture of an empty mollusk shell.
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
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 / No: 11935 (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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