I received an interesting phone call from a former resident of Wheeling, George Carenbauer, not long ago. Carenbauer now resides in the Washington, D.C., area but enjoys antiques.

He and his sister, Ellen Carenbauer Hazera, an artist living in Bordeaux, France, are considering the idea of an art exhibition to be held in Wheeling that would highlight a very special painting done by their mother, Elsa Eick Carenbauer in 1903.

He shared a photo of his mother’s artwork and the story behind it.

“Our grandmother, Elsa Eick Carenbauer, did a remarkable painting on china in 1903 when she was a student at St. Mary’s of the Springs Academy near Columbus. Our grandmother lived in Martins Ferry and went to school in her younger years at St. Alphonsus grade school in Wheeling. What makes our grandmother’s work particularly notable is that it is an original landscape (with a bridge) painted on a flat piece of porcelain, unlike most paintings on porcelain which were mainly depictions of flowers, fruit or vegetables on dinner plates, cups, vases and similar vessels.”

In discussing this painting with my sister, we appreciate that painting on china was a common area of study for young women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Our other grandmother, Tess Fahey Greene, also did such works and she went to Catholic schools in Wheeling.”

The Carenbauer siblings think it is very likely that many young women of the era in Wheeling and its environs, of different levels of society, also painted on china as part of their studies in that period, and that there may be many extant examples owned by their descendants.

They mentioned that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York had an exhibit on this topic in 2002, and shared several links to articles discussing the exhibit and the history of the practice of young women in studying this type of painting on porcelain.

There also is a website of the World Organization of China Painters (wocp.org) which oversees a museum of such paintings in Oklahoma City.

This painting topic reminds me of my own mother, Margaret O’Malley Bierkortte, and her interest in painting statues as a hobby when she was young. I have a few examples of these that date to the 1930-40s and the blank white (bisque?) statues were elegantly painted in oils to give a lovely finishing touch.

You don’t realize that these statues are white bisque until you turn them over and look at the base and see the chalky white underbody of the painted figure. It’s easy to see that these statues, though not porcelain, offered an artistic way to practice art and add the decorative arts to your home in a personal and entertaining way.

I imagine the statues were purchased by my mom at the local five and dime and then taken home to paint since my mother traveled very little and worked downtown when it was a bustling place to shop.

The Carenbauers, by the way, think it would be wonderful if there could be an outreach to the community for gathering other local examples of painting on porcelain for their idea of a possible local exhibition in the future.

If you have any examples of your own to share with them as they explore this idea and find more examples of painted porcelain by young ladies, please email me at zambitomaureen@hotmail.com and I’ll pass your email information along to them.