Bowl, Serving
Serving bowl inscribed "Shakers Mt. Lebanon NY"
12/1886
Description
Large round white footed bowl. The circular foot is decorated with a thin black line and wheel lines above and below the stem. Around the inside rim are two thin black lines with a light green stripe 6/16" wide in between them. Underneath the border there is light green transfer-printed text in all caps, which reads "SHAKERS MT. LEBANON N.Y.". The font of the text has a white outline to give the lettering a three-dimensional quality. There are also three hand-painted floral decorations. The smallest of the three is 2 7/16" long and has long thin green leaves with approximately nine red berries. The middle sized floral decoration, at the bottom of the bowl, is 3 1/16" long. The leaves on this branch are more shapely and are not uniform in their shape and size. It has five red berries. The largest is 4 9/16" long and has similar leaves to the branch at the center of the bowl. The third has berries as well but they are dark blue and purple and are not very prominent.
Notes
On October 12, 1886 Benjamin Gates, Cornelia French, and Mary Hazard of the Church family traveled to New York City to order plates from Union Porcelain Works. On February 20, 1887 a note in Anna Dodgsons journal refers to new plates with "Shaker & c". These are the only dishes marked with a community name.
New York Mount Lebanon Church Family
