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The use of La Belle as the company trademark originated with Baker’s fifth owner, Henry Pierce. During a European trip in the late 1870s, Pierce saw the original pastel painting, La Belle Chocolatière de Vienne by Jean-Étienne Liotard, hanging in the Dresden Gallery in Dresden, Germany. He was so taken with the image of a beautiful young woman serving chocolate, that he arranged to have a large-scale replica painted for display at the Baker’s offices in Dorchester. |
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In 1877 Henry Pierce first used an image of La Belle on packaging and in advertisements. He also applied for a trademark. Approval was given five years later and La Belle became Baker’s official company trademark in 1883. La Belle has gone through many stylistic variations over the decades, but the essence of her original form is still in use today. |
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In 1919 the large painting of La Belle commissioned by Pierce moved to a distinguished place in the recently completed Administration Building at the Baker’s complex. It hung on the first floor landing, in direct view of the front door, until 1965 when General Foods moved Baker’s to Dover, Delaware. While some sources report the painting hanging in the General Foods corporate offices in Dover after the move, it appears that it actually never left Dorchester. In the late 1970s it was found still hanging in the Administration Building, hidden by many layers of industrial paint. Local art restorer Bob Albert was called in to bring La Belle back to her former glory. The painting had suffered extensive damage, and was missing paint on parts of La Belle’s right arm, tray, and dress. There was even a hole punched through the canvas to hang a clock. After much work, the restored painting was unveiled in 1980 and once again hangs prominently on the first-floor landing of the Administration Building. |
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