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Two Rare "Shakers Mt. Lebanon, N.Y." Bowls commissioned by the Church Family, Mount Lebanon, New York
Union Porcelain Works, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York, 1886
Union Porcelain Works, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York, 1886
Sold for US$3,072 inc. premium
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Elizabeth Muir
Senior Specialist, Head of Sale
Amy Griffin
Cataloguer

Paul O'Hara
Sale Coordinator & Cataloguer
Two Rare "Shakers Mt. Lebanon, N.Y." Bowls
Union Porcelain Works, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York, 1886
Pair of footed porcelain bowls hand-painted with floral sprays, one with single branch detail inside well, both printed "SHAKERS MT. LEBANON N.Y." in rusticated log letters below a matching teal border, each with three marks on bottom: "U.P.W." eagle head printed in dark green; "UNION / PORCELAIN / WORKS / GREENPOINT / N.Y." in reserve above "12 86" printed in yellow; and "12" incised in glaze, diam. 5 5/8, ht. 2 1/2 in.
Footnotes
Literature
For discussion of pieces in the Collection of the Shaker Museum and Library, Old Chatham, New York, see John T. Kirk, The Shaker World (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997), p. 206-7.
Eight buildings were destroyed by fire at Mount Lebanon in 1875, prompting the Shakers to look outside their community to rebuild and furnish lost homes. Union Porcelain Works was among the first U.S. potteries to successfully manufacture porcelain, and it is possible the Mount Lebanon Shakers learned of the business while exhibiting their own products at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. These bowls come from the Church Family Great House, also newly equipped with Rococo Revival parlor furniture. A Mount Lebanon Church Family Trustee and Deaconess ordered the service in person on 12 October 1886. The dishes were delivered and in use by 20 February 1887, as described in two personal diaries. The complete set included three floral and fern patterns, the printed "SHAKERS MT. LEBANON N.Y." in teal log letters, and many dated "86" or "87" in the mark.



