Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-24
By CoRINNE FRAZIER.

"HANKs to the careful domestic
management of Mrs. Calvin
Coolidge and her predecessor in
Il the White House, as well as Mrs.
Wilson, when Mrs. Herbert
Hoover assumes the role of mistress OF
the first home of the land she will find
an abundance of exquisite chinaware
and cutlery with which to set up house.
keeping in manner BETTING her sta
ton.
Hers will not be the experience of
Mrs John Adams, who evidently had
found it necessary to bring much Of her
own china TO the Executive Mansion
when she ASSUMED possession. and with
disastrous results, judging from letter
written to a member of her family
shortly after her arrival, deploring the
fact that many things were broken
or stolen" Her efforts to replace them
evidently were fruitless, for she later
remarked that Georgetown affords
nothing"
Mrs. Hoover will not have to risk
the breakage of her personal china
when she moves in on March 4, as she
is not expected TO bring it with her
Nor will she have to bother with the
problem of selecting official porcelain
While there may be necessity for
minor purchases in china during the
coming administration, the pantry
shelves are generously supplied with
appropriate service for personal and
state needs, as is shown by the latest
inventory of White House furnishings.
For state dinners, formal teas. etc,
there is the tasteful Lenox set selected
by President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson
in 1918, and still in good condition after
being used through three administra-
,1-tn he &SCtiN SAf
being the only set of American-made
ware that has graced the official White
House board in the history Of the
country.
For informal occasions, small private
dinners, everyday use and to carry out
special color motifs on state occasions
there remain parts Of the Roosevelt,
Mckinley, Harrison, Cleveland and
Hayes sets, as well as few odd pieces
of the famous Lincoln and Grant sets,
the former of characteristic Limoges
Haviland design which later President
attempted unsuccessfully to have copied.
His manufacturers reported that the
"blue border was Of a ecolor pigment pc
culiar to the Limoges works the secret
of which was kept within their factory -
This blue border" is more often re-
ferred to asFpurple, but is in reality a
sort of ponnegranate shade.
Frequently when RED roses predomi-
nate In the floral decorations. the
Harrison service plates with their rich
red borders are used in lieu Of the
Wilson plates.
Hayes salad plates also are pressed
into service on occasion, as are parts
of the Roosevelt set But the principal
State china today is the Wilson china.
This porcelain is of a simple design
which suggests the dignity and charm
of the mistress who selected it.
In making their choice, it was the
desire of President and Mrs. Wilson
that the decoration of the new service
should combine the simplicity of trut
art with a motif appropriate to the
locale for which it was destined. TX
this end, the approved design wa.
evolved by Frank @. Holmes, chief art.
list of the Lenox works.
X
THE Belleek ware was chosen, with
its delicate creamy tone. The dec
Grafton is described in Spring ISSUE
of International Studio in 1919 as con
sisting of IAN outer and inner border
Of entrusted gold In dull finish. sepa.