White porcelain soup bowl with five gold bands decorating the inner and outer borders of the rim. The bowl is part of a large dinner service owned by P. T. Barnum. Darte Freres (Darte Brothers) of Paris produced the custom-decorated dinner service, possibly in the first or second decade of the 1800s, and not later than 1845. Darte Freres designed and made porcelain items of extraordinary beauty and quality, pieces that only the wealthiest patrons and royalty could afford to commission or purchase. The family crest featured on the object originally belonged to a Russian prince. The crest was adopted by P.T. Barnum when he purchased items in Paris, France, in 1845 at a sale of the man's belongings following his death. In his autobiography, Barnum explains that items with the crest were priced solely on the value of the silver and gold they contained, since the crest was not a desirable feature to wealthy buyers who had their own family crests. Other items such as a large set of dinnerware featuring the crest on each piece seemed of little interest to buyers, but caught his attention in part because the prince's initials were "P" and "T". Thus he only needed to add a "B" to make them his. Barnum never stated the name of the late Russian prince. Examination of the Russian Empire Roll of Arms, published in 1797 shows that the crest belonged to the Тюфякин family, which can be rendered in the Roman alphabet as Tioufiakin or Tyufyakin, who held the noble rank of "prince" - the highest rank one could have without being a member of the royal family. The last member of the family to hold use the crest was Пётр Иванович, Peter Ivanovich (1769-1845), who spent the last two decades of his life living in Paris opposite the opera house. Prior to that,Tyufyakin was noted for helping to reinvigorate the Imperial Theatres in Russia, making them profitable, and even inviting Western actors to perform in Moscow. He died in February of 1845 with no heirs. In Paris, he was noted for giving grand balls, where doubtlessly the fine china that Barnum purchased was used. It is worth noting that the eagle and the solider in the crest are switched in earlier versions of the family crest. It is unclear when the version painted on the china came into use. It is also unclear how Barnum's three initials were applied to the china, since they are perfectly centered, and that would not be the case if he was adding the "B" to "P T". Barnum continued to use the items he acquired throughout his life, as portions of the sets can be seen in photographs of the dining room in his last home, Marina, which was built in 1888-1889.
