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The China Room is one of the rooms on the Ground Floor of the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
, the home of the
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
. The White House's collection of state china is displayed there. The collection ranges from George Washington's Chinese export china to
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
's blue and white themed collection. Almost all administrations are represented with a collection however a few have not created one; most recently the Trump administration did not have a collection created and instead mainly used the china designed by
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
during her time as First Lady. The room is primarily used by the
first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non- monarchical head of state or chief executive. The term is also used to describe a woman seen to be at the ...
for teas, meetings, and smaller receptions.


McKim refinishing

Until late 1902 when the room was refinished as a public entertainment space during renovations directed by
Charles Follen McKim Charles Follen McKim (August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the part ...
, this room, along with most of the ground floor of the residence, was used for household work and general storage. McKim rebuilt the room with details from the late
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
n period including robust cove moldings.


The china collection begins

After becoming first lady in 1889, china painting enthusiast Mrs. Benjamin (
Caroline Lavinia Scott Caroline Lavinia Harrison (; October 10, 1832 – October 25, 1892) was an American music teacher and the first lady of the United States from 1889 until her death. She was married to President Benjamin Harrison, and she was the second first l ...
) Harrison (1832–1892) began to gather and restore china from previous administrations, which she eventually arranged within the mansion's private Family Dining Room. Harrison successor Mrs. Theodore ( Edith Kermit Carow) Roosevelt (1861–1948) celebrated the then newly initiated efforts of journalist Abby Gunn Baker (1860–1923) to research the growing collection, allowing her to both expand and arrange the collection in Arts and Crafts Movement cabinets in the semi-public ground floor corridor—a space newly defined as a gallery during the 1902 McKim, Mead, and White renovation of the White House. This relocation of the china collection represented a burgeoning recognition of and appreciation for the historic artifacts associated with the American Presidency. (Damaged china had been sold or given away as late as the McKinley administration.) In 1917, First Lady Edith Bolling Wilson acknowledged the need for more space for displaying the collection through the suggestions of both Mrs. Baker and White House Chief-Usher Irwin Hood Ike"Hoover (1871–1933). Baker had continued to research the history of the mansion—and particularly that of its celebrated tableware—and argued that the history of the house would slip away without official intervention. In response, Mrs. Wilson surveyed the Ground Floor with Hoover, designating a large room located towards the southeast, next to the oval Diplomatic Reception Room, as the new "Presidential Collections Room." She also approved its outfitting with built-in cabinetry for the display of the china. Above each of the three bays of built-in wall cabinets was raised lettering identifying the holdings as CHINA USED BY THE PRESIDENTS.


Truman and Kennedy periods

During the Truman renovation, 1948–1952, the room's walls were paneled in salvaged pine timbers from the house. Architect
William Adams Delano William Adams Delano (January 21, 1874 – January 12, 1960), an American architect, was a partner with Chester Holmes Aldrich in the firm of Delano & Aldrich. The firm worked in the Beaux-Arts tradition for elite clients in New York City, Long I ...
detailed the room with bracket molding of mid-Georgian style. (Unfortunately, the architect did not replicate the depth of the removed Wilson-era cabinets, preventing the inclusion of an important standing punchbowl from the Pierce administration—restored by Mrs. Harrison—in the reconstructed interior; the piece was subsequently displayed in the window of the room.) The Truman-era paneling was left unpainted until the Kennedy administration, when, in 1963, French interior designer Stéphane Boudin (1888–1967) of the Paris-based firm Maison Jansen, had it glazed in three shades of gray, with white detailing; corner brackets included in the display cabinet doors were removed at this time. The interiors of the display cabinets were lined with red cotton velvet, and the floor was covered with a similarly hued "Snowflake"-pattern carpet manufactured by Stark Carpet Corporation. At the single window, gray velvet draperies, trimmed in red and white silk fringe, were installed. An early-19th century classical marble mantel with female supports replaced the Truman Georgian surround.


Nixon redecoration

The room was substantially redecorated in 1970 by First Lady
Pat Nixon Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon (''née'' Ryan; March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974 as the wife of President Richard Nixon. She also served as Second Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961 w ...
, with the assistance of
White House Curator The White House Office of the Curator is charged with the conservation and study of the collection of fine art, furniture and decorative objects used to furnish both the public and private rooms of the White House as an official residence and ...
Clement Conger and preservation architect
Edward Vason Jones Edward Vason Jones (August 3, 1909 – October 1, 1980), a neoclassical architect and member of the Georgia School of Classicism, began his career in 1936 with the design and construction of the Gillionville Plantation near his hometown of Alb ...
. The Truman-era bracketed molding was removed and replaced with a Federal period cove molding. The walls were painted a uniform off-white. The existing red accent color, determined by the red gown in
Howard Chandler Christy Howard Chandler Christy (January 10, 1872 – March 3, 1952) was an American artist and illustrator. Famous for the "Christy Girl" – a colorful and illustrious successor to the "Gibson Girl" – Christy is also widely known for his ico ...
's 1924 portrait of First Lady
Grace Coolidge Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...
(with her white collie Rob Roy), was retained. The vitrine shelves remained lined with red velvet.


China collection

The collection is arranged chronologically beginning to the right of the fireplace on the east wall. While not every administration created its own service, at least minimal amounts of all china services created for the White House are now in the collection. Sizable amounts of some services going back to the early nineteenth century exist and are sometimes used for small dinners in the President's Dining Room on the Second Floor. The Carters favored using pieces of the Lincolns' "solferino" (purple-rimmed) china for special occasions. The Reagans, though famous for their red and gold service, also enjoyed using the Lincoln china. The Clintons did not take delivery of their state service until near the end of President Clinton's second term. They used the Reagan and Truman services extensively for state dinners, but for small family dinners, especially holidays, favored the Hayes china which depicts American flora and fauna.


Furnishings

The rug is an Indo-Isfahan carpet from the early twentieth century. A
cut glass Cut glass or cut-glass is a technique and a style of decorating glass. For some time the style has often been produced by other techniques such as the use of moulding, but the original technique of cutting glass on an abrasive wheel is still u ...
Regency style Regency architecture encompasses classical buildings built in the United Kingdom during the Regency era in the early 19th century when George IV was Prince Regent, and also to earlier and later buildings following the same style. The period co ...
chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent ...
hangs in the China Room. A pair of late eighteenth century tureens on the mantel are glazed in red and green slip, and are the source for the green and red striped silk taffeta draperies. Two high-backed lolling chairs, made early in the nineteenth century and upholstered in ivory and moss green, are arranged in front of the portrait of Mrs. Coolidge. An English neoclassical mantel is located on the east wall, and Ferdinand Richardt's ''View on the Mississippi Fifty-Seven Miles Below St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis'', completed in 1858, hangs above the mantel.


See also

*
Walter Scott Lenox Walter Scott Lenox was the American businessman who established Lenox china, supplying the first complete American-made bone china table service for Woodrow Wilson's White House. Biography Lenox resolved to become a potter early in his bo ...


References


Further reading

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External links


White House China Room




{{White House, state=collapsed Rooms in the White House