New West Baden Springs Hotel Plate

Q: We have an 8-inch gold-rimmed plate with a painting of a large hotel on it. At the bottom of the plate is the phrase, “New West Baden Springs Hotel, West Baden, Ind., The Carlsbad of America.” It’s marked on the back, “Hand Painted, the Jonroth Studios, Germany.” We don’t know how old it is, but my mother is 93 years old and she recalls that her mother bought it on one of the family’s trips to West Baden when she was a little girl. Can you tell us its approximate age and value?

A: The “new” West Baden Springs Hotel was built in 1902, after the original hotel burned down. It was advertised as “The Eighth Wonder of the World” because it’s main circular building is topped by the world’s largest dome. It was called “The Carlsbad of America” because of nearby mineral springs, similar to those in Carlsbad, Germany. Jonroth Studios was a name used by an American importing company, John H. Roth & Co. The company was founded in 1909 and imported china from Germany, Japan and England. Your plate was probably made in the 1920s and is worth about $30.