Haviland Limoges plate signed Jennings gooseberries with intricate, hand painted double border

Porcelain : Antique : French : Limoges : Haviland : Department Store Mark

 

Jennings (first name unknown to me) was an early North Dakota china painter said to have studied in Chicago with Aulich. Some of her work was sold through Ogden, Merrill, and Greer, a St. Paul department store and catalog company. Her work is unusual in its composition and here, in the use of an almost filtered effect in her background colors. Rather than seamlessly matching the colors, she allows an almost white, irregular shade to wander in and out of the design elements, much as light would in fact drift and change.

What at first appears to be a typical presentation of gooseberries becomes less so the more we look. She has created an inner and outer border of pale brown paint and then added gilt embellishments to each to give texture and catch the light. The gooseberries weave around behind and in front of these borders.

The 8 ¾ inch diameter plate bears a Haviland mark and a red OMG stamp. I look forward to learning more about this talented woman.

Item ID: 1012