Presidential china.(chinese porcelain)

Starting with George and Martha Washington, almost every American president and first lady has had distinct opinions about the type of porcelain on which they and their guests dined. Thus, the White House collections contain both enormous official services used for state dinners and other grand occasions, and smaller, more personal services brought by each administration and used in the family's private quarters. The earliest surviving porcelain paid for by the government is a dessert service ordered by James Monroe in 1817, no doubt, to replace china that was lost when the President's House (the earlier name for the White House) was burned in the War of 1812. Having lived in France, Monroe was partial to the Empire style, and, as his agent in France, explained, he wanted to find objects that "united strength with elegance of form, and combining at the same time simplicity of ornament with the richness suitable to the decoration of a house occupied by the first Magistrate of a free Nation." However, Monroe was criticized for not supporting domestic manufacturers when he furnished the White House, and in 1826 Congress decreed that whenever possible furnishings ordered for the President's House should come from American ...