Name/Title
Plate: "Hoboken in New Jersey" (Steven's House). Blue Staffordshire plate made by Joseph Stubbs ca. 1825-1829. Alfred E. Busch association.Entry/Object ID
2014.017.0001Description
Plate: "Hoboken in New Jersey" (Steven's House). Blue Staffordshire plate made by
Joseph Stubbs circa 1825-1829. From the collections of the late Alfred E. Busch: presentation stand with plate holder and typewritten description on plaque.
Dual association with Hoboken as the owner was a significant figure in Hoboken industry and the Stevens homestead was a landmark in regard to Hoboken's early development.
A gift to Busch from Kenneth Stiles, Major General, U.S. Air Force Reserve. See notes for transcripton of the plaque.
Date of presentation is not stated or known except that it was likely in the 1960s. Busch became President of Keuffel & Esser Co. in 1961 (and by birth, he was a Keuffel on his mother's side of the family.) As a Hoboken company, a Hoboken scene and one associated with the Stevens family would have been an appropriate choice as a gift (including that the Keuffel family was associated with the Stevens Institute of Technology.) Per comments from Busch's daughter, Betsy Crosby, Stiles was associated with Keuffel & Esser as a member of the Board of Directors, but dates of that service has not been established. (Stiles is known to have worked for military contractors such as General Dynamics after his years on active duty including at the Pentagon.)
Busch served as President (and Chairman 1963+) of K&E from 1961 to 1975(?). Other milestone events during his leadership that may have been the occasion for this gift were: 1965, company became a publicly traded corporation; 1967, company centennial; 1967, groundbreaking for new headquarters in Morristown, N.J.; 1968, opening new headquarters in Morristown, N.J. (and leaving Hoboken.)
The maker, Joseph Stubbs, operated as a potter in Burslem, England, 1790-1829 (died 1836), and this plate is attibuted to his factory or works. See below for reference.
Ceramic, 7-3/4" diameter, transfer printed blue pattern, "spread eagle border" with indent depicting Stevens Villa after an engraving by William Birch. Back has a blue oval cartouche with "Hoboken in New Jersey" title. Several mends and four metal staples.
This plate has been seen referred to both as a dinner or dessert plate. An oval platter and a cup with this pattern are shown in some online references.
Stand: stained, varnished mahogany, 15" wide x 8" deep x 1-1/2" high base with mounted wood fittings for plate and plaque (typewritten Stiles letterhead behind inset plexiglas cover) being 8-1/4" overall high.
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See these URL for more about Stubbs and this pattern:
http://americanhistoricalstaffordshire.com/history/joseph-stubbs
http://patrioticamerica.citrusstaging.com/pottery/printed-designs/patterns/hoboken-new-jersey
Yale holding:
http://discover.odai.yale.edu/ydc/Record/1749759
Winterthur holding: http://museumcollection.winterthur.org/single-record.php?resultsperpage=20&view=catalog&srchtype=advanced&hasImage=&ObjObjectName=&CreOrigin=&Earliest=&Latest=&CreCreatorLocal_tab=Joseph%20&materialsearch=&ObjObjectID=&ObjCategory=&DesMaterial_tab=&DesTechnique_tab=&AccCreditLineLocal=&CreMarkSignature=&recid=1956.0046.042&srchfld=&srchtxt=&id=eadd&rownum=21&version=100&src=results-imagelink-only#.U2es57lOVaQ
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Ottilie and Eugen Busch’s son Alfred Eugene Busch was born in Riga in 1914 but grew up in Königsburg; he came to the U.S. in the mid-1930s to attend college at MIT, “Busch, Alfred E.,” obituary, New York Times, December 10, 2006, p. 54. (See people biography for full text.)
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transfer-printed earthenware / pearlware/ lead glaze / molded / printedAcquisition
Accession
2014.017Source or Donor
Crosby, BetsyAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Gift in memory of Alfred E. Busch.
In Memory of: Alfred E. BuschMade/Created
Date made
1825 - 1968Notes
Date: 1825-1968General Notes
Note
Notes: Objects 2014.017.0001, plate with stand.
Transcription of plaque on stand:
Kenneth Stiles
Major General, U.S. Air Force Reserve
1600 South Joyce Street
Arlington, Virginia 22201
AMERICAN HISTORICAL STAFFORDSHIRE
"Hoboken in New Jersey (Steven's House)"
Larsen's No. 240
Source: American Historical Views on Staffordshire China by Ellouise Baker Larsen
Plate made by Joseph Stubbs around 1825. He operated as a potter in Burslem, England, 1790-1829.
Source of view: Drawing by William Birch. Engraved and published by the artist in County Seats of the United States of America, compiled at "Springland, near Bristol, Pennsylvania," 1808. Reprinted at Stockholm by Axwel Klinckowstrom in his Atlas in 1824.
Title of Engraving: Hoboken in New Jersey, the Seat of Mr. John Stevens.
The land, on which stands the house pictured by Birch, formerly belonged to Colonel William Bayard, the Revolutionary owner of "the Island of Hoboken." He was a Royalist and during the war had assembled soldiers for the English King. In August, 1780, Colonists seized and burned his home at Castle Point, Hoboken, New Jersey. Colonel Stevens bought this land at auction, and during the next three years his new house, Stevens Villa, was erected. He lived there during the summer months from 1786 to 1814, after which he left his New York House for permanent residency in Hoboken.
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Book cited on plaque was:
Larsen, Ellouise Baker. American Historical Views on Staffordshire China. New York:
Doubleday, Doran & Co. Inc. 1939.
or the later edition:
Larsen, Ellouise Baker. American Historical Views on Staffordshire China. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co. Inc, 1950. Revised and Enlarged
Status: OK
Status By: dw
Status Date: 2014-05-05
