Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-10-30

just south of the entrance from the cor
[ ridor contains the china and glass oi
President Cleveland and all his succes-
| sors. save President Taft. who rs yet has
not added his contribution to the col
| lection This cabinet will awaken far
| the greatest interest, when the White
| House is again open to visitors. rs IT
contains specimen pieces OF the new
| state dining set ordered by the PreSl-
dent and Mrs Wilson,-the first Am
ercan made state dining set which has
ever been used in the White House.
| The fact that it is American made viii
! citizen. but no one can be more proud
/ of this fact than Mr. Walter Scott LenOy,
AT whose pottery at Trenton, New Jersey,
| the china was made.
| WORK INVOLVED
| But few realize the work involved IN
securing a state dining set for the White
| House, Months of time were consumed
! in the preparation of the designs for.
| the present service. Pattern after pat
tern was made and discarded Colonel
Harris went away to war, and Colonel
| G. = Ridley succeeded in the many
| duties of his office. Among these duties
| are all matters relating 10 tho White
| House. and from the first Colonel Rid
| lev cvinccd an intelligent, sympathetic
] interest in the new state dining set Both
/ the President and Mrs Wilson wanted
| something as fine as could he produced
| III the European ottcrles primarily be
| e, us it vas 10 hc the frs American
nj de state dining set and for at rea-
| son must be above crl IciSm They
wanted il also to be exceedingly simple
| and, in these war times, they were cSpe-
ciallv desirous that the decorations
should have patriotic motif
Under these c rcumstanCcs lt can be
imagined easily that Mr. LenoX and the
chief artist Of the firm. Mr. f G Holmes
were fully alert in filling the commission
the firm was So delighted to receive
Design after design was worsod out only
to 60 into the waste basket One morning
MIR Holmes came smiling into the office
Il believe have il. he exclaimed AS he
produced a paper Here Is a design
so simple and so unostentatIous II can not
but suit the most aesthetic taste, and yet
so rich in tone II commensurateS with the
dignity az the home OF our Chief Executive
The motif is supremely patriotic. the Stars
and Stripes and the Seal of the United
States Nor was Mr.. Holmes mistaken.
His design was approved eventually. not
only hv his calling out by President and
Mrs. " lLSOn.
From the first the President and Mrs
Wilson had followed the development q
the design with keen zest and they were
especially delighted with the patriotic
motif There was but one change and
that came from suggestion made by
President Wilson As the china was for
the President house he thought II more
appropriate that the dishes should bear
the Presidentt seal rather than tie
Coat OF Arms Of the United States. "A
suggestion which met the hearty approval
of the Lenox Incorporated
EXQUISITE TEXTURE.
The new state dining set is dream
OF beauty. and there can be no criticism
of the exquisite texture of tho china
Its touch is as velvet under the fingers
In round numbers the service viii COM
prise seventeen hundred pieces and each
piece is in two tInts. a deep ivory cniored
border and the cream white china of
the center Of the dish There viii be 10
color in anv of the decoration save on
the service plates The decorations are
in rolled gold Each fiat piece Is ecged
with narrow border of the stars and
stripes, group of the stars alternating
with group OF the stripes. and at the
top Of each is an exquisite conception
Of the Presidents seal.
The tea cups and the dainty little after
dinner coffee cups bear golden handles and
are decorated with the same design as
the plates. The haring ranekins, the
double handled bouilhon cups. the break
fast food dishes and the little bowls to
hold the relish for the oyster cocktail in
the oyster plates. bear the same decora-
tions The large chop plates which will
be used also as cake servers, have a mar
row rim of the ivory tint on which the
design is painted while the body OF the
plate is the cream white fabric The
service plate is the most beautiful plate
of its kind which has ever gaced the
White House The border of the plate
is of an Undesirable deep blue darker
than the Wedgewood and yet more bril-
liant II is bordered in gold in AN ctch-
ing of the Adam period, including an
Adam urn and scroll The inner border
bears the stars and stripes The hand
some seal stands directly IN the center
of the plate and attracts the eye Al the
FIRST glance The, plate measures eleven
inches instead Of the usual ten and one
half and thus enables the beauty Of the
decoration to be seen while II carries
soup or an entire plate
The fabric of the china that is the
china itself, is Of marvellous strength
and fiber and il is built to bear long
usiage Not only so, but the great beauty
of the entirescrvce makes il district
addition in the field of ceramic art. The
patriotic motif has been named "The
President Wilson Design" by the Lenox
incorporated and there can be no qucs-
ton but that this first American made |
state dining set will 60 down in White |
House history in honor to the good taste j
and the splendid Americanism Of both /
the President and Mrs Wilson