Mississippi Capitol Region
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Description
This souvenir plate, designed by Dr. Carl Raymond von Seutter, bears green toned etchings of seven landmarks located in Jackson, Mississippi. Images of the Governors' Mansion, the Seutter Building, the Old Capital, a buildings at Millsaps College, a Confederate monument, and the Jackson, Mississippi post office line the outter edges of the plate while an etching of the New Capitol building is featured in the center. The back of the plate identifies the plate has having been made by the Rowland and Marsellus, Co. in Staffordshire, England and designed and imported by Carl J. V. Seutter, Wholesale and Retail Jeweler, Jackson, Mississippi. q
Approximate Creation Date
1903
Time Period
1900-1909
Subjects
Souvenir plates; Ceramic art; Mississippi--Capital and capitol
Keywords
souvenir plates; art; etchings; Jackson, MS
Geographic Location
Jackson (Miss.)
Object Type
physical object
Format (original)
plate
Format (digital)
Digital ID
MFM_MSS_837_Plate_Souvenir-Jackson-MS
Source
Mississippi State University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, Manuscripts Unit, Lucius Marion Lampton, MD Historical Images Collection, Mississippiana Collection, Postcard/Photographs, 2022 Addition, Objects
Repository
Manuscripts
Digital Publisher
Mississippi State University Libraries (electronic version)
Rights
Copyright protected by Mississippi State University Libraries. Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required.
Contact Information
For more information about the contents of this collection, email sp_coll@library.MSState.edu.
Recommended Citation
Souvenir Plate of Jackson, Mississippi , Lucius Marion Lampton, MD Historical Images Collection, Special Collections Department, Mississippi State University
Comments
Notes by the donor, Dr. Lampton: A work of art by Dr. Carl Raymond von Seutter (1889-1938), the celebrated Jackson photographer, optician, and artisan who lived at 610 North Street and later at 1703 St. Anne. He was a veteran of World War I and is buried in historic Greenwood Cemetery. It appears to date to the early 1900s, probably associated with the building of the New Capitol in 1903, which is the largest image. It also includes etchings of the Governor’s Mansion, the Post Office, the Seutter Building, the Old Capitol, Millsaps College, and the Confederate Monument. It was designed and imported by Carl J. V. Seutter, [the “J.” should be “R.”] wholesale and retail jeweller, Jackson, Miss., created by The Rowland and Marsellus Company, Staffordshire, England. Elisaeus von Seutter (1827-1901) had made his way from Lindau, an island of Lake Constance in Germany. Born into an aristocratic family, he was an “educated” man, after which he took a position in Seutter & Company, located in Prague. With a certain spirit of unrest, von Seutter left his position in 1848, emigrating to the United States through New Orleans. With hopes of exploring the West von Seutter lived for a while in St. Louis, Missouri, where his “letters of introduction” from home got him no place. After surviving malaria, he accepted the invitation of Max Kuner, a friend and native of Germany, to join him as a jeweler of Downing, Moody and Kuner in Vicksburg, Mississippi. After mastering jewelry crafting, watchmaking, and engraving, he ventured on his own to open a business in Raymond, Mississippi. During this time he returned to Germany, marrying his long time sweetheart, Julia Hoch. He and Julia would have eight children, only 3 of home lived passed the age of 11–Armin in 1854, Edward in 1860, and Carl in 1866 (Carl’s middle name “Raymond” came from their hometown in Hinds County). While his business was a lucrative one until 1860, the American Civil War caused him to lose much of his property and led to the failure of his business in Raymond. By 1870, however, he had reestablished himself in the capitol city–Jackson, Mississippi, where he built a shop at the corner of State and East Capitol Street, a two-story brick building. Eventually, the building would house both his jewelry/ watchmaking business on the first floor and a photography studio on the second floor. Elisaeus von Seutter died on Thursday evening, January 3, 1901, a year after the death of his wife (January 1, 1900) of an apparent suicide. Armine, Edward, and Carl (his sons) carried on his legacy by continuing business in the jewelry and photography trades and having active roles in the community. Armine was the principal photographer in the firm by 1900, with his father focused on jewelry. There is at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History an E. von Seutter Photograph Collection which consists of thirty-five (35) original stereocards and forty-eight (48) photographic prints collected by the Elisaeus von Seutter family of Jackson, Mississippi. The majority were taken by photographers Elisaeus and son Armine. This plate reveals the artistic variety of the von Seutter business, as well as a work of art by Carl.