"Votes for Women" Suffrage China: 1 cup & saucer, 4 6" butter plates totaling 6 pieces.
Suffrage. [Belmont, Mrs. Alva].
[England: John Maddock & Sons, Earthenware., ND, but ca. 1911].. White ground with "Votes for Women" in blue script at the upper rim of the plate. Seal of the maker at the reverse together with marks indicating this was produced in the reign of George V in 1911, marked "Maddock". All in near fine condition with only a bit of age discoloration, tiny chip to rim of cup. This suffrage pattern has been recently reproduced by the Newport Historical Society. Commissioned by Mrs. Alva Belmont, this is one of the most dramatic indication of suffragists' new understanding of the art of political persuasion. It is no surprise then, that Mrs. Belmont would commission her own set of "Votes for Women" china, held a major Suffrage dinner part at her famous home, Marble House, in Newport, Rhode Island. When the dinner was over, each guest was given a place setting to take home. Mrs. Alva Vanderbilt Belmont (1853-1933), born in Alabama, grew up as a Southern lady. Upon marrying into the wondrously rich Vanderbilt family, Alva focused her impressive energies on winning over New York Society. Her divorce from William Vanderbilt and ensuing marriage to, even richer, Oliver Belmont caused a sensation. The scandal forced the hitherto sheltered society dame to reconsider women's position. When the Women's Trade Union League in 1909 supported the garment workers' on strike. Mrs. Belmont personally went on the streets of New York City; into the city's jailed and bailed out the arrested strikers. This strike was her initiation into the woman's suffrage movement. She established her own Political Equality League, paid for the office space for a national NAWSA office in New York City, and under wrote a national press bureau for the association. While her sudden plunge into the movement aroused some skepticism, her commitment proved enduring. When radical Alice Paul broke off from NAWSA, Mrs. Belmont left the NAWSA to become one of Paul's most significant supporters. It was at Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island that Alice Paul and her cohorts formulated their plan to hold President Wilson and the Democrats responsible for the lack of progress on woman suffrage. Her dinner service had a sense of sophistication and style and inspired commercial adaptations of the woman suffrage ware. Items from the service are among the rarest and most sought-after-artifacts documenting the women suffrage movement. AMERICAN WOMEN'S HISTORY, pp. 33-34. NAW I pp.126-128. Flexner & FitzPatrick, A CENTURY OF STRUGGLE, pp. 235, 246, 251 & 298. TIMELINES, p. 41. (Item ID: 9317)
$6,500.00
