Featured 3 Limoges Haviland plates painted by Elizabeth Stoner

I inherited these three antique Haviland France plates (7 5/8 inches diameter). I did not find the signatures until I photographed the plates & magnified the details. They are signed E. Stoner, whom an internet search identified as the china painter Elizabeth Stoner, who numbered her designs (although two different poppy designs are both numbered 9). My plates are numbered 19, 22, 24. I wondered if they were part of a sequence of related images. Can anyone identify the plants? Does anyone know where the internet sources found their information about the artist? Does anyone know the dates of her life? Because she lived in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A., I assume the plates marked “Haviland France” were blanks (presumably bisqueware for shipping, to be decorated after purchase).

The Haviland backstamp was used 1894-1931. Is there any way to narrow the dates of my plates? Sellers of other Elizabeth Stoner plates date them 1910s (#9), 1894-1900 (SOLD, no number or price given), 1900-1919 (#40), with no explanation of the dating.

Would it be better to sell as a set of three or individually?

Any information would be appreciated.

https://www.rubylane.com/item/271645-23-087/Haviland-Limoges-Plate-Hand-Painted-Signed

https://www.etsy.com/listing/104236...how_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/341710690468451608/

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186882520080

 

You can find Elizabeth J. Stoner on familysearch.org. b. 1873 in Indiana. Described herself on the 1910 census as "Artist" and her place of work "Studio." Her husband Charles V. Stoner is identified in the same census as "President" and his place of work "China Store."

Debora

 

The Stoner China Studio was located at 57 Iglehart Avenue which was also their home address.

Debora

 

My late Aunt used to get Haviland blanks and paint flowers on them. She didn't sell them; she gave them to family members. This was a popular thing at the time

 

There wasn't much else for a lady to do.

Debora

 

Here are some ads and financial info for her.

From Keramic Studio, Nov., 1912:




Keramic Studio, April, 1913:


Minnesota Biennial Report, 1905-1906:


This snippet view from R L Polk's 1906 St. Paul Directory shows her address as 57 Iglehart as Debora noted:

 

JB Miller rounded up some great information for you. Unfortunately, the current market is not strong for hobbyist /studio china. Haviland collectors are unlikely to be interested as they prefer factory decorated pieces. Were they mine, I would sell them together. The three present a coherent style and pallette that may make the set worth more than the individual plates. A wider color pallette may also have helped here but that may just be my personal preference. As for price, the Etsy and Ruby Lane asking prices seem a bit optimistic. I think the Ebay listing is probably closer to today's value but that plate is larger and has a different decoration. Regardless, they will probably be slow sellers. I would assume your plates were produced before the patterns were offered for sale in 1913. I doubt you'll be able to pin the exact dates down any better.

 

How cool that there is so much info on a hobbyist painter. Porcelain blanks are very expensive now, but there are still some of those paint your own ceramic places around if you want to try your hand.

 

Thank you for all the information! Now that I know who painted them, I am even more interested. I don’t think Elizabeth Stoner can be considered a hobbyist painter. She identified herself as “artist,” had her own studio, taught china painting, produced pattern books for sale (to those hobbyists), created and painted her own designs, and sold her work through her husband’s china shop. She seems to have been a woman who transformed the acceptable feminine artistic pastime of china painting into a profession.

I used to teach a course on Women Artists with the theme “obstacles overcome.” I wish I had known that my mother owned works by a woman artist. It would have been fun to use them as illustrations for china painting as an “acceptable” art form for women and how a woman could turn the hobby into a career. I could even see her (or her and other china painters) as the topic of a Master’s thesis or a research paper. I think I will keep watching for other examples of her work.

I think I will market the plates that way—by a woman artist. I noticed the seller of the poppy plate on Ruby Lane called Elizabeth Stoner a “famous” woman artist. A bit of an overstatement, but a documented woman painter is accurate. If I price them too high and they do not sell, I then have a documented woman painter in the pieces I keep.

Any identification of the fauna represented (some kind of pod)?

 

I had a dear friend who taught a course on Women Artists at the local university. She concentrated mainly on the Renaissance era. There is certainly room for research concentrating on circa 1880 - 1920. Tastes had changed by 1920 and it was also difficult to produce handpainted pieces at a price the public would pay. China painting still survives as a hobby but it is a dying art.

For research you needn't concentrate just on china - many women also created and decorated pottery. The work of Pauline Jacobus (Pauline Pottery) is just one of these creators. Other talented women worked at Rosevillle and Weller just to name two pottery companies off the top of my head.

It would be interesting to see Elizabeth Stoner's full pattern book but I don't know if any copies survived. The Minnesota Historical Society might have info? I bought a few scattered sheets of patterns at auction recently for $1. I couldn't let them go in the trash. Haven't had time to reseach them and now I'm not sure what pile they are in.

As for your plants, I would run the pictures through Google's image search and see what comes up. Even if you don't get an exact answer it may give some leads. Good luck!

 

No, of course, she wasn't a hobbyist. I think she'd best be described as an artist who used china painting has her medium. Though china painting is a decorative art and not a fine one.

Debora

 

"I think I will market the plates that way—by a woman artist."

Great idea. I wasn't denigrating what she did by saying she was a hobbyist painter but that is the genre or type that these plates fall into. Very interesting gal. However, think of Newcombe College or the Glasgow Girls, the myriad paintresses in the Staffordshire factories, Clarice Cliffe, Susie Cooper, Daisie Makieg-Jones and there are some very talented gals at Moorcroft. I am missing many in my short list, but one could write a book, let alone a thesis.