[Theatrical Commemorative Tchotchke] A Pewter Ashtray Marking the 75th Performance of Clyde Fitch's Play "The Girl with the Green Eyes" with Clara Bloodgood. New Savoy Theatre. Wednesday Feb. 25th, 1903

New York, 1903. A rare theatre tchotchke marking the 75th performance of a play by the most commercial and prolific of playwrights at the time, Clyde Fitch, and produced by Charles Frohman. The object itself we call an ashtray, but it could be used as a receptacle for loose change, cufflinks, or anything small, or merely serve a decorative purpose. It was not intended as an ephemeral object to be tossed the next day. It is made of pewter, the commemorative event embossed at its base. It is about 10.5 cm in diameter at its widest along the top rim, and it is slightly over 3 cm tall. Clara Bloodgood (1868-1907) was a New York socialite, first married to a Havemeyer, divorced, then John Bloodgood, Jr., heir to a banking fortune. When her second husband passed away in 1897, his fortune entirely frittered away, she embarked on a theater career to support herself, and among her credits was a significant role in the American premier of Shaw's "Man and Superman". But the major engine of her career was from becoming a protege of the playwright Clyde Fitch, who wrote a number of vehicles for her, this play being one of them. The play closed the following month after 108 performances. It was the basis for a later silent movie. The object here has no dings or significant issues. The "3" in 1903 looks more like an inverted "C" -- we think this was how it always was, probably. If one wants to brighten up the pewter, it can be polished, of course. Some may prefer the dulled patina, though. (Inventory #: 20263)