Fenton Indiana State House Blue Souvenir Commemorative Plate ~ 2nd Known

The Indiana Statehouse is located at 200 West Washington Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. The 3rd Statehouse was condemned in 1878 and it was torn down to start the construction of this one in 1880. It was completed in 1888 at the cost of $1.8 million dollars.

It was designed by Edwin May, an Indianapolis architect.

The interior was modeled in the Italian Renaissance style.

John Resnik, author of The Encyclopedia of Carnival Glass Lettered Pieces, worked hard to understand why this particular commemorative was made at this time in history, around 1912. He said, "My "best guess" is that this item was created at the same time and for the same event as the Indianapolis Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument pieces."  John goes on to say there is mention of an undefined event described as a "gala celebration" in the summer of 1912 in Indianapolis.

The Statehouse can be seen from the Monument grounds called Monument Circle.

I personally think both the Statehouse and Monument plates were made to commemorate the Presidential Election when President Woodrow Wilson was elected into office that year. 

John Resnik further commented that it was interesting to note that the flag used on this plate has only eleven stripes and nine stars and it is also the very same flag used on the Soldiers' & Sailors' Home plate. He could not find any significance about the flag's features. I think it may tell us that perhaps  the same artist crafted both moulds for the two patterns of commemorative plates.

John goes on to dedicate his article to Byron & Grace Rhinehart in gratitude for the use of the photo of their blue example, shown in his book. At the time, it was the only known blue one. They had purchased it at a Woody Auction sale in 1974 in Indianapolis. It was later sold to Doug & Karen Engel on November 11, 2011. When Karen passed away in 2016, her collection was sold at the 2017 ACGA convention auction, hosted by Jim Wroda Auctions at their old Greenville, Ohio facility. I purchased her plate at that auction to keep all three together.

Mine shown here is a recent discovery compared to that one belonging to the Rineharts/Engels. I bought it from Scott Silver who found it near his home which happens to be in the vicinity of where the Fenton Factory in Williamstown, West Virginia once stood. What a great find! Scott had placed an ad to sell it and that ad was emailed to me by a friend. I made a special trip to Pennsylvania which was a half-way point for both of us to travel. We met at a popular hotel and it took me moments to agree to buy it. On the same day, hours later, another couple, Gary Vandevander and his wife, also met me at the same hotel to sell me the Indianapolis Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument plate. Although our meetings and dealings were pre-arranged, bringing these two items home in one sitting was like hitting the lottery. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Like my friend Jerry Curtis used to say, "When opportunity knocks--open the door!".

Now, we know there are at least two known blue plates in this pattern. They are slightly different from one another in shape. There is also a third plate known owned by Dr. Steve Gregg who held a seminar at the 2017 ACGA convention just before the lettered pieces of Karen Engel's collection sold.

This one is 7 5/8" wide and stands 1 1/4" tall whereas the other is 7 3/4" wide and only 1" tall. It doesn't sound like a big difference but it is noticeable how much deeper this one is. 

The Christina Katsikas Collection