Cass Gilbert Dining Room Exhibit
Hand Painted China Pieces

These dishes were painted by the Hoag sisters of Texas. They were awarded a Second Premium Ribbon at the St. Louis Fair of 1886. The blank china pattern painted on by the Hoag sister was called Osier and was made by the Haviland China Company.

A picture of the Hoag sisters and their ribbon are on display.

Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Whitbeck of Ridgefield donated this collection to the Keeler Tavern Museum.

Between the middle years of the 19th century and the 1920s painting china was an artistic endeavor practised mostly by middle class women. For some it was a pleasant diversion, for others a serious art form.. It also provided a respectable means of earning a living.

Blanks were purchased from porcelain makers in Europe, England and the United States. A blank is a commercially produced porcelain form, plain white with a clear glaze, and is designed to take multiple firings. They were available in many shapes in the 1890s, costing from a few pennies to over $10 for larger or more elaborate pieces.

The china painter outlines a design with a china-pencil on a blank. China-painting colors were commercially produced and consisted of mineral oxides and low temperature flux in powdered form. They were sold in small glass vials or packaged in small envelopes by factories in Europe, England and the United States.

China painting had become very fashionable in England in the 1870s, when wealthy women of leisure took it up as a hobby. Exhibitions were arranged, and juried shows took place. For many is was an artistic endeavor.

Upstairs

Haberdashery

Men’s clothing and accessories from the late 19th and early 20th centuries form this special exhibit. Various styles of hats, shirts, spats and dress suits are exhibited. Included is a Tuxedo, introduced at Tuxedo Park New York, a fashionable vacation spot for the Hoi Polloi, at the home of the Lorrillard family.

Also, included is a baseball uniform worn by the late Octavius “Tabby” Carboni when he played on the Ridgefield team in the 1920s.