Shaving Mug

Original OwnerOriginally owned by Bennie Katzman (American)

MakerMade by Limoges Porcelain Manufacturers (French, founded 1771)

Date1890-1900

MediumMold-formed porcelain with overglaze gilding and enamels in black, brown, red, yellow, grey, and blue

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (height x width including handle x depth): 4 x 5 7/8 x 3 3/4in. (10.2 x 14.9 x 9.5cm)

ClassificationsCeramics

Credit LineMuseum purchase

DescriptionCylindrical, porcelain shaving mug with gilding and polychrome enamels showing the inside of a barber shop. The outside of the mug is decorated with black enamel, with wide bands of gilding at the rim and flared foot. A hand-painted scene showing the inside of the shop appears below the name "B. Katzman" in an elaborate script, and the location "HARDFORD CONN". The far wall of the shop has a multi-paned window, a door beneath a sign that says "BATH", and pegs on a wall for customers to hang their coats. Three men are sitting on chairs to the right, and one man in a topcoat, cape, and blue suit stands in front of the door leading to the baths. They are watching three barbers shaving thee men in chairs to the left. The chairs are in front of a wall of three mirrors. There are three spittoons in the scene, two in the foreground, and one in the rear by the man in the cape. Some gilding has worn off the flared foot of the shaving mug, as well as the rim. The handle also had a line of gilding which has worn partially away. There is a chip in the porcelain in the upper right corner of the barber shop scene.

Object number1980.68.0

NotesHistorical Note: Bennie Katzman appeared in the Hartford City Directory in 1897 as a barber working at 178 State Street. Between 1897 and 1906, he appeared at four different addresses, sometimes by himself and, in 1898 and 1900, in partnership with Solomon Katzman. Bennie Katzman's last entry in the directory in 1906 lists him as a peddler.

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