ATLANTIC SOUTH. Home Decor / Kitchen Decor, Decorative Plate, Souvenir, c. 1960s.
This little Puerto Rico dish showing one of its capital city’s most popular tourist attractions was manufactured by the Hutschenreuther porcelain company in northern Bavaria, Germany. Numbered as 69, it was produced exclusively for a distributor, Bared & Sons, with a jewelry shop located in San Juan. Certainly this is a gem of a piece, and it features an image of a chapel honoring the ‘Christ of Miracles’ rendered in deep sapphire blue. There is a legend surrounding the historic church connected to the city’s patron Saint, John the Baptist. Early in the 1730s, at festivities held celebrating John, Cristo Street was host to a horse race that resulted in a participant falling from his mount and off a cliff. Secretary of the Government Don Tomás Mateo Prats is said to have invoked Christ the Savior (in Spanish Santo Cristo de la Salud) to save the unfortunate young man. Here things get a bit murkier, as later reports claimed the rider died, but a good story won’t be denied, and the accepted version became that he was miraculously kept from death. A church built on the site of the ‘miracle’ to give thanks was dedicated as The Chapel of Christ the Savior. This chapel (capilla) has been a popular destination in San Juan since at least the year 1780, and it eventually became the subject of the decorative souvenir plate offered here. [Condition: Like New.]
Condition: Like New. Local / Regional Attractions. Dimensions: 6.25” diameter x 0.75” deep / 7 oz
