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Lincoln White House pitcher 1861 – Smithsonian Museum of All-natural History – 2012-05-15
Image by Tim Evanson
A pitcher from the Lincoln White House china service of 1861.
In the 1800s, presidents had been expected to furnish the White Home with their personal beds, furnishings, plates, and artwork. When a president left office, he took his things with him. The White Residence itself owned only a couple of furnishings. In addition, the White Property was considered a public creating. As such, it was open to the public at all occasions. It was not unusual to discover members of the public wandering in and out of the White Residence at all hours of the day (and often night). When a president left office, it was not unusual for members of the public to simply steal artwork, serving dishes, flatware, or other objects. Certainly, numerous souvenir-hunters would merely reduce squares of fabric from the wallpaper, upholstered chairs, or carpets. Members of the White Home staff also routinely stole items from the building, keeping them as souvenirs or (a lot more frequently) selling them to the highest bidder or in antique shops.
When the Lincolns moved into the White Home in March 1861 (inaugurations did not move to January till the 1940s), they identified it in a terrible state. It was shabby, vandalized, and in extensive disrepair. It lacked many rudimentary contemporary amenities, such as gas lighting and plumbing.
Mary Todd Lincoln found that the White House china – which had been purchased in the administration of Franklin Pierce in the early 1850s – was in a sorry state. There had been only adequate plates, cups, saucers, and serving dishes to serve about ten guests, and what china did stay was mismatched and damaged.
Every single incoming president traditionally received ,000 to furnish the White Residence. Congress appropriated this money to Lincoln in April 1861, and gave him another ,000 on best of that. Mary Todd Lincoln and her cousin, Elizabeth Todd Grimsley (who was assisting the Lincolns set up home), traveled to New York City in Might 1861 to shop for furnishings for the White Property. They arrived in the city on May 12. On May 15, they visited two firms: Lord & Taylor, and E.V. Haughwout & Co.
Haughwout’s showed her a "specimen plate" they had exhibited at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in New York in 1853. The business had produced the plate in the hopes that President Pierce would like it and buy a set of china primarily based on its appear. The "Pierce Plate" was a creamy white porcelain with image of an American eagle in the Napoleonic style (slender wings outspread, slender neck and head, facing correct, leaning left), gripping a shield emblazoned with the U.S. colors (white band at leading rimmed in blue, with blue stars on the field, and narrow red and white stripes under). The shield tilted to the right, and the reduce southeast corner lost in rosy clouds, which surrounded and have been in back of the eagle. Drifting through the clouds left and correct of the shield was a ribbon with the national motto ("E pluribus unum"). An olive branch extended to the left, and a sheaf of arrows to the right. A wide dark blue border, its outer rim dotted with tiny white stars, encircled the plate. The beyond that was a twisted gold rope ("in the Alhambra style"). The edges of the plate were scalloped.
Mary Lincoln was thrilled with the style. She asked for only one particular change, that the blue band be replaced with "solferino." Solferino was a moderate purplish-red colour related to magenta – a highly well-known colour at the time. A dye that could produce the solferino color had only been discovered in 1859, so asking for solferino colour was asking for the trendiest colour about. It was also close to purple, which was Mrs. Lincoln’s favored color.
Mary Lincoln was so content with the china service that she also ordered a modest set for the family’s individual use. The Excellent Seal of the United States was replaced with a Gothic "ML" in the center.
The china was produced by Haviland & Co. in Limoges, France. American porcelain companies just have been not up to the process of generating fine china, and could not have made as many pieces as Mrs. Lincoln wished. Haviland undoubtedly gilded the edges with the gold rope and painted the solferino band on the plate, then shipped it to New York City. A stencil was employed to create an outline of the image, which was then painted in by hand. The final style was slightly different than the Pierce Plate. The eagle faced left, not correct the clouds only formed the lower arc of a circle, and obscured the southwest corner of the shield the olive branch was more prominent, and the arrows less numerous and a glowing yellow sun (not glowing clouds) backed the eagle. The stars about the outer edge of the solferino band were now just gilt dots.
Lincoln ordered 666 pieces of china. The dining service (which consisted of two large salad bowls, 4 pickle bowls, 18 meat platters of various sizes, 4 fish platters of various sizes, two butter dishes, six vegetable platters, 96 dinner plates, 48 soup bowls, four water pitchers, and two ice bowls) consisted of 190 pieces. The dessert service (which consisted of custard cups, fruit bowls, strawberry bowls, sugar bowls, fruit baskets [some oval, some round], dessert plates, coffee cups, and two massive shell-shaped bowls) consisted of 208 pieces. The breakfast/tea service (which consisted of tea plates, preserve plates, coffee cups, egg cups, tea cups, and cake plates ) consisted of 260 pieces. She also ordered four "servers" (large plates for serving chocolates) and 4 large centerpieces (white pelicans formed a pillar, on which was a large platform on which dishes could be presented).
Mrs. Lincoln also ordered 3 dozen gilded silver forks, ten dozen silver-plated and iron-handled dinner knives, and six dozen dessert knives. It is not clear who manufactured these.
She completed her purchases by ordering glassware. She bought the glassware from Christian Dorflinger, a glassware business based in Brooklyn, New York. Two sets of glasses have been ordered: Tinted-red sherry glasses, and a larger "toddy glass" (a wide-mouth drinking glass related to a round, shallow martini glass). These had the Excellent Seal of the United States etched into their front. On the sides and backs had been small flowers. A decorative border of umbrella-like shapes was etched into the lip, and the base featured groups of rays, spreading outward.
The china cost ,195. (The family’s private china, which Mrs. Lincoln bought at a discount given that it was ordered at the same time as the government-owned set, price ,106.37.) She produced a down payment of ,500 of her personal money, and turned the invoice more than to the federal government for payment.
E.V. Haughwout delivered the china on September two, 1861. It is a myth that Abraham Lincoln believed the expense as well significantly, and refused to spend it. The truth is that Lincoln approved the invoice a week ahead of the china was received, and the federal government paid the invoice two weeks soon after the china arrived.
The Lincoln china is the very first State Dinner Service chosen totally by a First Lady.
There is, even so, a second set of "Lincoln China."
By late 1864, significantly of the "Solferino" china set had been broken or broken. It is not clear if there was some flaw in the china which produced it easily broken (as the White Property employees claimed) or whether the employees disliked Mrs. Lincoln and disliked her china and purposefully manhandled it. What is recognized as that by late 1864, only 3 complete place settings, some teacups, and some odds and ends had been left of the "Solferino" set.
On January 30, 1865, Mrs. Lincoln ordered a new set of china for the White Property. This time, the importer was China Hall, a firm owned by John Kerr of Philadelphia. The design and style this time was extremely simple: A white plate, with a buff border edged in gilt lines. This 508-piece set consisted of dining plates, soup plates, dessert plates, ice cream plates, a wide variety of dishes (large and tiny fish platters, vegetable platters, side dish platters), tureens, sauce boats, pickle dishes, salad bowls, custard cups, fruit baskets (round and oval), fruit platters, sugar bowls, coffee cups, coffee saucers, and other items. This 181-piece set cost ,700.
On February 28, Mrs. Lincoln made an addition order of coffee cups and saucers, water pitchers, and bowls. These 24 products were in the exact same style, and price 3.50.
Mrs. Lincoln spent one more two getting 4 dozen goblets and 28 dozen wine glasses of numerous sizes from China Hall as well.
The main set of china arrived in the United States through express shipment on February 13, 1865. But it was probably delivered just days before Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865.
The receipt for the "Second Administration" buff china was delivered shortly right after Andrew Johnson became President. The bill for the main china order and glassware was paid on August 29, 1865. The bill for the further china was paid on February 10, 1866.
Interestingly, the Andrew Johnson administration decided to replace the whole Solferino china set with an identical set. This second order of "Lincoln china" did not last, either. By the end of the first Grant administration, there was not sufficient left to set dinner for eight or nine men and women.
Considerably of the "first Lincoln Solferino china" set and the Johnson administration "second Lincoln Solferino china" set had been sold at auction to raise funds to obtain new china in the Grant administration. This was no uncommon at all.
Beginning in 1875, reproduction pieces of the Solferino china was made in the United States. It is fascinating to note that Haviland did not start stamping their name on the back of their china until 1876. But reproduction pieces usually have "Fabriqué par Haviland & Co./Pour/J. W. Boteler & Bro./Washington" painted or stamped on the back. Other individuals were stamped "Administration/Abraham Lincoln" on the back. A large number of reproduction china services have been produced for sale at the the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. Much of the "Lincoln china" which collectors have in their possession is reproduction china the original china ordered by Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Andrew Johnson have no markings on the back.
As of 2010, the Smithsonian owned only a dinner plate, a two-handled custard cup, and the coffee cup and saucer used by Lincoln on April 14 (just prior to he attended Ford’s Theatre). The White House has a bigger quantity of pieces, including a small oval platter, a meat platter, three compote dishes, an oval fruit basket, a coffee cup and saucer, a water pitcher, a fish platter, a dinner plate, a shallow bowl, and a soup bowl.
The buff band china is even tougher to uncover! The Smithsonian has none of it. The White Property has just a soup bowl and a gravy boat.