White House China of the Lincoln Administration in the Museum of History and TechnologyKlapthor, Margaret Brown
History
White House China of the Lincoln Administration in the Museum of History and Technology
Klapthor, Margaret Brown
Dinners and dining -- Washington (D.C.); Porcelain -- Washington (D.C.); Washington (D.C.) -- Social life and customs
The official dinner service so delighted Mrs. Lincoln that she ordered a
similar set for herself. On the personal service the initials "M. L." were
substituted for the arms of the United States as decoration. Mrs. Grimsley
says "... this latter, I know, was not paid for by the district
commissioner, as was most unkindly charged when it was stored away."[7] It
has been suggested that the personal china was paid for by a withdrawal
of $1106.73 from the President's account with the bank of Riggs and Co.
[Illustration: Figure 6.--CUSTARD CUP From the Purple-Bordered State China
used during the administration of President Abraham Lincoln. (USNM acc.
206542; Smithsonian photo 44120-G.)]
The personal china was an indiscreet purchase, at best, and Mrs. Lincoln
was soon accused of buying the china out of public funds. In the midst of
the campaign in which Lincoln ran for re-election in 1864 an opposition
newspaper, _The New York World_, published a bitter attack on the
President and his wife charging that the bill submitted by Haughwout for
the State service had been padded to include the cost of the personal
china.[8] According to the paper's editorial, the deceit was discovered
when the amount of the bill was questioned by a clerk in the Treasury
Department and "Honest Abe," when cornered, made payment out of his own
pocket. This story seems to be refuted by the evidence on the Haughwout
bill, which was signed by the Comptroller for payment on September 16,
1861, within two weeks after the china was received, and only three after
President Lincoln had approved the bill.
The extent to which this controversy spoiled Mrs. Lincoln's pleasure in
the handsome purple service perhaps can be measured by the fact that after
President Lincoln was re-elected, she purchased another large china
service for the White House. A bill, recently discovered at the National
Archives, documents the new set as being ordered by Mrs. Lincoln from J.
K. Kerr of 529 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, whose establishment, known
as China Hall, specialized in French and English china and glassware.
Dated January 30, 1865, the bill was for:[9]
1 Extra Large French China, Dining, Dessert and Coffee Service,
decorated on a White ground, delicate Buff Border with burnished Gold
lines consisting of the following pieces.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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