White House China of the Lincoln Administration in the Museum of History and Technology — John Shaqi
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
12 Dozen Dining plates }
6 Dozen Soup plates }
6 Dozen Dessert plates }
6 Dozen Ice Cream, or peaches & cream }
plates deep }
1 Large dish for head of table }
1 Foot dish }
2 Second course head & foot dishes }
2 more dishes }
2 more dishes }
2 more dishes }
4 vegetable dishes with covers }
4 more vegetable dishes with covers }
4 Sauce tureens } $1700
4 Sauce Boats }
4 Stands for Sauce Boats }
4 Pickle Shells }
2 Salad Bowls }
2 Custard Stands }
48 Custard Cups with covers }
2 Large rich oval fruit Baskets }
4 Smaller round do }
4 Fruit Comports Shell form for fruit }
4 do do high round }
2 Dessert Sugar bowls with covers }
48 After Dinner Coffee Cups & Saucers }
1 Large Dish for Fish }
Records show that the china was brought to Washington by Harnden Express,
as there is a voucher "For freight on 5 casks from Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., mkd Mrs. A. Lincoln $28.50. China from
J. Kerr Phila. Pa. for dinner." It is signed "J. K. Kerr" "Mrs. Lincoln"
and is dated February 13, 1865.[10]
Two weeks later, on February 28, Kerr sent a bill for some additions to
the service as follows:[11]
2 Dozen Coffee Cups & Saucers
Delicate Buff Border & Gilt 20.00 40.00
4 Water pitchers do do 10.00 40.00
4 do smaller do do 8.00 32.00
4 do do do do 6.00 24.00
4 do do do do 5.00 20.00
6 bowls do do 2.50 15.00
Package 2.50
----- -----
173.50
Two months later President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The china so
recently ordered could hardly have been used by Mrs. Lincoln, and
evidently payment had not been made, for it is recorded that at one of the
first conferences which B. B. French, Commissioner of Public Buildings and
Grounds, had with President Johnson in April 1865, he sought the
President's approval of payment for a purchase of china by Mrs.
Lincoln.[12]
[Illustration: Figure 7:--COFFEE CUP From the Purple-Bordered State China
used by President Abraham Lincoln at dinner at the White House on the
night of his assassination. (USNM acc. 219098; Smithsonian photo
45088-D.)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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