This fruit bowl came from the estate of a friend of ours in Maine - now deceased - who had a special interest in collecting restaurant china from New England hotels, in particular New Hampshire and Maine.

Even though this bowl is only marked Minnetonka, we think there is a good chance that it was made for the Minnetonka Hotel, located in Wells Beach, Maine and served by the Boston and Maine Railroad.

It had a variety of names since it was built around 1893,including Minnetonka House, Washington Hotel, Thee Inn, All's Well Inn, and most recently - in 1978 - the Grey Gull Inn. It was located on Webhannet Drive in Wells.

Unfortunately, according to this April 30, 2009, article in seascoastonline.com, "The three-story inn, which had been known for its dining and lodging for more than 100 years, was demolished about a week ago to set up the property for residential purposes."

As always, if anyone has any information about this pattern we would be eager to hear from you.