were more or less odd. but generally comprised 

 what was known as the "red edge set'." 



Chinaware was not the only thing needed in the 

 Executive Mansion in the opinion of Mary Todd 

 Lincoln. Fortunately for her, C'.ongress was ac- 

 customed to appropiiating $20,000 to refurnish the 

 President's House to the taste of each new First Lady. 

 This money became a\ailablc to her when the special 

 session was convened in April 1861, and Mrs. Lincoln 

 set out the next month on a shopping trip to New 

 York and Philadelphia. She was accompanied by a 

 fa\orite cousin, Mrs. Elizabeth Todd Grimsley, who 

 had come to Washington for the inauguration in 

 March and stayed on at the White House with the 

 Lincolns for six months. 



The ladies' arrival in New York City on May 12, 

 was duly noted in the city newspaper. On May 16, 

 1861, The .\ew York Daily Tribune records under the 

 heading Personal: 



Mrs. Lincoln employed the greater portion of Wednesday 

 forenoon in making purchases. .'Xmong other places she 

 visited the establishments of Lord & Taylor, and Messrs. 

 E. \'. Haughwout and C)o. At the latter establishment 

 she ordered a splendid dinner service for the White 

 House in "Solferino" and gold with the arms of the 

 United States emblazoned on each piece. The purchases 

 also include some handsome vases and mantle ornaments 

 for the blue and green rooms. 



The firm of E. V. Haughwout and Co. whose bill 

 head identifies it as 'Tniporters ard Decorators of 

 French China" was accustomed to Executive Marsion 

 patronage. L'nder the name of Haughwout ai d 

 Dailey they had sold a dinner ser\ice to Presidcrt 

 Pierce in 1853.' During Mrs. Lincoln's May visit, 

 Haughwout's must have shown her a handsome 

 specimen plate they had exhibited at the Crystal 

 Palace Exhibition in New York in 1853 which had 

 been made for President Pierce's approval. A 

 picture of the plate in the Haughwout and Dailey 

 display is shown in the catalog of the Exhibition 

 where it is identified as "a specimen plate of a dinner 

 ser\ ice manufactured for the President of the L^nited 

 States with the American eagle and blue band in 

 Alhambra style."' President Pierce e\idently did 



Figure 2. — Plate illustrated in the catalog of 

 the Crystal Palace Exhibition. 1853. (.Smith- 

 sonian photo 60016.) 



not like the design as the service he subsequently 

 purchased from Haughwout aid Dailey had a plain 

 red band and was not the one manufactured for his 

 approNal and exhibited in New York. 



Mary Todd Lincoln was delighted with the plate 

 displa\ed at the Clrystal Palace Exhibition a;"d ordered 

 a complete dinner ser\ice of that design. Her only 

 charge was to ha\e a wide ".Solferino" border painted 

 on the scrxicc instead of the blue border specified for 

 the 1853 plate. This bright purplish-red color had 

 become extremely fashionable since its discovery in 

 1859, and it proxided another \ariation of Mrs. 

 Lincoln's favorite color, which she indulged in 

 personal attire as well as in room decor. 



Mrs. Lincoln probably first saw and gave her 

 approxal to the elegant new china when she returned 

 to New York for more shopping in August. The 

 china was deli\ercd on September 2, 1861, with a bill 

 itemized as follows:* 



One fine Porcelain Dining Service of One Hundred, 

 and ninety pieces . 190 ... . decorated Royal 



purple, and double gilt, with the Arms of the L'nited 

 States, on each piece, for the Presidential Mansion .... 

 namelv .... 



■National .-\rchives. Record group 217. Government .Ac- 

 counting Office, miscellaneous Treasury accounts, receipted 

 account 113810. voucher 4. 



2 Official catalog of the New Tork ex/iihilinn nj the industry oj 

 all nations, 1833. New York, 1853. 



3 National .'\rchives, record group 217, General .Xccounting 

 Office, miscellaneous Treasury accounts, receipted account 

 141451. 



112 



BULLETIN 250: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



