Manuscripts

Gallaudet University Archives

Descriptive Summary 

Repository: Gallaudet University Archives
Call No.: MSS 53
Creator: David L. Bloch
Title: Papers of David Ludwig Bloch, 1939-1988
Quantity: 0.5 Linear Feet (1 document boxes)
Abstract: Bloch was a reputable Deaf artist. This collection focuses on his artwork.
Note: This document last updated 2005 November 21. 

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information: David Ludwig Bloch donated his collection to Gallaudet University in 1988.
Processed by: Ulf Hedberg. 1988 November 10.
Processing Note:
Conditions on Use and Access: This collection is open to the public with no restrictions. Photocopies may be made for scholarly research.

Related Material in the Archives:

Photographs

• David Bloch [picture]. Gallaudet University Archives, Call Number: Portraits

Vertical Files

• David Bloch. Gallaudet University Archives, Call Number: Deaf Biographical

Biographical Sketch

David Ludwig Bloch, born on March 25, 1910 in Floss, Oberpfalz Province, Bavaria, West Germany. He enrolled in a school for deaf in Munich, (Die Konigliche Bayrische aubstummen Anstalt, Munichen), in 1915 and was graduated in 1923. In 1925, he was apprenticed as a china decorator at a porcelain factory and went to the Technical School of the Porcelain Industry in Selb for three years. He finally became a designer for Bauscher, a manufacturer of hotel china and continued his studies at the Academy of Applied Arts in Munich.

With the rise of the Nazi movement in Germany, Mr. Bloch was arrested and interned at the Dachau Concentration Camp in 1938. He was released after a short time and fled Germany, arriving in Shanghai, China in 1940. He lived in that city for nine years and married a Chinese woman, Lilly Disieu-Cheng, in 1946. They were granted permission to emigrate to the United States in 1949.

Mr. David Bloch's work includes woodcuts, line drawings, water colors, and designs for china. During the administration of Lyndon Baines Johnson, he designed a service of china for use in the White House.

Scope and Content

The David Ludwig Bloch Collection consists of his art works dating from 1939-1988. The collection includes art works, biographies, clippings, letters, miscellaneous including his exhibitions, newsletters/newspapers and pamphlets.

There are several his woodcut prints in our archives, which were donated by David L. Bloch in 1983. These are in Photograph Collection under 62-D.

Series Descriptions and Folder Lists
No Series