Figure lo. — Silver service 

 presented to Mrs. Abraham 

 Lincoln when she was First 

 Lady. Gift of Mr. Lincoln 

 Isham. In Division of 

 Political History. (Ace. 

 216335.6-.13; Smithsonian 

 photo 44851-B.) 



of Chief Joseph of the Ncz Perce Indians, and a peace- 

 ful agricultural scene. 

 The plaque is inscribed as follows: 



Presented to General Nelson A. Miles, U.S. Army, by the 

 officers of the fifth U. S. Infantry. As a token of personal 

 esteem and their estimate of his distinguished services in 

 which unequaled successes over savages in war were 

 paralleled by humanity and justice towards the thousands of 

 Indians whom he took captive and instructed in the Arts 

 of Civilization. 



The plaque, measuring 18}^ by 23 inches overall, is 

 marked "Tiffany & Co., 6565. Makers 2, Sterling 

 Silver, 926-1000 and Other Metals, M." 



General Miles was colonel of the 5th Infantry 

 Regiment for so many years that a modification of his 

 family crest was selected as the crest on the coat of 

 arms of the regiment. The Miles family crest is an 

 arm in armor grasping an anchor. Arrows for each 

 Indian campaign in which the regiment took part are 

 substituted for the anchor in the regimental crest." 



TO MARY TODD LINCOLN 



The Museum recently receised a silver service (fig. 

 10) that belonged to Mary Todd Lincoln. The service 



" Infanlrx (\ol. 2 of The Army Lineage Book), Washington, 

 1953. 



consists of a large oval tray, a hot-water urn on a stand 

 with a burner, coflfeepot, teapot, hot-water pot, cream 

 pitcher, sugar urn, and waste bowl. All the pieces 

 ha\e an overall repousse floral and strapwork pat- 

 tern with the monogram "MTL" on one side and an 

 engraved crest on the other. The crest seems to be 

 an adaptation of the Todd family crest. The pieces 

 are marked with a lion, an anchor, and an old English 

 "G," which are the early marks of the Gorham Silver 

 Company. It is assumed that this silver service was 

 a presentation gift to Mrs. Lincoln during the time 

 she was First Lady of the White House, as a letter 

 dated July 19, 1876, from her to her son Robert Todd 

 Lincoln calls his attention to a silver service in his 

 possession that was a gift to her from "the Citizens of 

 New York." 



FOR ENGINEERING 



By far the most fanciful of all the mid-1 9th-century 

 pieces is the silver teakettle and stand (fig. 11) given to 

 General Montgomery C. Meigs by the citizens of 

 Washington for his work on the Washington Aqueduct. 

 The kettle, 18 inches high, is mounted on a base that 

 is 8}^ inches square and 3% inches high. The base is 

 made in the shape of the stone arches of the aqueduct, 

 and the head of George Washington, in profile, is 



PAPER 4 7 : PRESENTATION PIECES 



93 



