White porcelain with shaped edges gilt and central image of a bald eagle atop an American shield as hand-painted by Edward Lycett. Diam. 9 1/2 in. Some light wear, particularly along edges.

Upon her arrival at the Executive Mansion on 4 March 1861, Mary Lincoln was appalled to find the building in a state of complete disarray, with broken furniture, peeling wallpaper, and the china purchased less than a decade earlier during the Franklin Pierce administration reduced to just enough plates, cups, saucers, and serving dishes to be used by ten people. Two months later, she traveled to New York City on a purchasing trip to completely redecorate the Lincoln family's new home. On 15 May, Mrs. Lincoln and her entourage visited the shop of E. V. Haughwout, who showed her a "specimen plate" he'd designed for Franklin Pierce depicting an American bald eagle gripping a shield with a ribbon emblazoned with the national motto "E pluribus unum" floating atop a puff of delicately-painted clouds. Thrilled with the design, Mary Lincoln asked for a few minor changes, notably that the eagle's face be turned towards the left rather than the right and that the color be changed from the royal blue originally envisioned for Franklin Pierce to the more fashionable "solferino" color. In total, 666 pieces of Solferino china were ordered for the White House, totaling $3,195. This set was notable for being the first ever chosen by a First Lady.

The set was mostly gone by the end of Lincoln's first term, with much of it destroyed or stolen during the funeral services held in the Green Room for Willie Lincoln after his death in February 1862. There was so little left that by November 1864, Mary Lincoln had to purchase a dozen teacups to host a tea party. Much of what remained from there was taken in the weeks following Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The Solferino set design ultimately proved to be one of the most popularly used in the White House in later years, with the Johnson, Grant, Arthur, Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Ford administrations all using some variation of it.

PROVENANCE:
The Paul Richards Collection (ownership label on verso)

REFERENCES:
Detweiler, American Presidential China: The Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, pp.48-50; Klapthor, Official White House China, pp.82-93