Plate
ImporterImported by
Rowland & Marsellus Co.
American, founded mid 19th century
RetailerSold by
Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution
American
MakerMade by
Unknown
SubjectPortrait of
Oliver Ellsworth
American, 1820 - 1878
SubjectPortrait of
Abigail Wolcott
After a work byAfter a work by
Ralph Earl
American, 1751 - 1801
Date1906
MediumMechanically-molded ironstone with underglaze cobalt blue decoration
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (diameter): 9 7/8in. (25.1cm)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineGift of Helen E. Royce
DescriptionRound, ironstone plate with a transfer-printed underglaze cobalt blue pattern and border. The circular pattern, printed in the center of the plate, is titled, "OLIVER & ABIGAIL (WOLCOTT) ELLSWORTH". The scene shows an older gentleman and woman, wearing eighteenth-century clothing, seated inside a room in front of a window. There are several shelves of books to the left, and a curtain is drawn away to the right of the window. The window looks out on a landscape of hills and trees, with a large, white house in the distance. The pattern is surrounded by a narrow border of white crossed ribbons and is surrounded by a wider border at the rim of the plate. The wide border consists of grapes, pineapples, cabbages, and other fruits, vegetables, and leaves superimposed on a dark blue background. At the top of the border, above the pattern, is a circular emblem. The emblem looks like a ship's wheel superimposed over an eye-shaped motif. Around this are the words "DAUGHTERS OF THE/ AMERICAN/ REVOLUTION". There is light crazing on the surface of the plate.
Object number1955.10.9
MarkingsThere is an extensive underglaze blue mark on the bottom of the plate. It begins with a scroll that reads, "OLIVER ELLSWORTH/ BORN AT WINDSOR, CONN. 1745./ WAS ONE OF THE FRAMERS OF THE/ FEDERAL CONSTITUTION/ AND THIRD CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE/ UNITED STATES." Below this, the mark continues, "THIS PLATE IS ISSUED BY THE/ CONNECTICUT DAUGHTERS OF THE/ AMERICAN REVOLUTION/ 1906". At the bottom is a diamond containing the intertwined letters "R M & Co" above "STAFFORDSHIRE ENGLAND".NotesSubject Note: The pattern on this plate is taken from a double portrait of Oliver Ellsworth and Abigail Wolcott Ellsworth, painted by Ralph Earl in 1792. The Ellsworths are shown in their newly renovated house, "Elmwood", which had been built in the 1740s and enlarged in 1788. The house shown in the distance out the window is also "Elmwood". The painting is owned by the Wadsworth Atheneum, and is considered one of Earl's finest works. (Hunt 11/8/2004)Historical Note: In 1906, the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) sold these commemorative plates.
Subject Terms
On View
Not on view
