Family + Art/Craft: Hand-painted China Plates

Family + Art/Craft: On the kitchen walls are six beautiful hand-painted plates. They've gone from home to home with me, ever since I inherited them from my maternal grandmother. They are all different in style, I don't know how old they are, and I'd have to look at the backs to be reminded of their pedigree -- or lack of one. I just checked the smallest one that has a delicate floral border. It's marked "Stouffer's Hand Decorated" which means it was painted between 1905 and 1907 at the Stouffer Studio in Chicago. It's also marked J&C Bavaria, referring to Jaeger & Co. which produced china in the Marktredwitz area in the Free State of Bavaria, Germany. Was it their manufacture? That's what the mark would indicate. Their design? I wonder. ~ I have always loved these plates. Florals, a still life of fruit, and a pastoral landscape. I can't imagine living without them. Learn more about the Stouffer Studio in Chicago here.

Jacob H. Stouffer portrait, ca. 1905-1910