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soup "   , 26 preserve " 36 breakfast coffees, 36 black coffees 36 teas, 1 Cake plate, 4 pitchers 1 Ice bowl   2061.25

Even with this second order, which almost equalled the original in size and cost, the purple set did not last; early in the administration of President Grant not enough of it was left to set the table in the State Dining Room satisfactorily. Those who handled the Lincoln set grew weary, it is said, of the constant breakage and became convinced that not careless handling but “bad luck in the china itself” was destroying both the dishes and the patience of those who were responsible for them.[15]

The story of the china associated with the Lincoln administration must also include a service used by the Lincolns at the summer White House which they maintained on the grounds of the Soldiers’ Home in Washington, D.C. Recently, the Quartermaster Corps of the Army turned over to the White House for the china collection some pieces of Royal Worcester china used in the house at the time of President Lincoln’s occupancy. It has a wide border of tiny gray and yellow flowers in a diaper design, with a multicolored floral wreath in the center of the plate. This use of English china and the informal design of the set is noteworthy, as almost every set of official china up to this time had been French, and French china continued to be used at the White House until almost the end of the 19th century.

It is appropriate in this discussion of the Lincoln china to mention the number of commemorative reproductions which were made for sale to the general public as souvenirs in the last quarter of the 19th century. The earliest of these reproduction pieces seem to be some which are marked on the back “Fabriqué par Haviland & Co./Pour/J. W. Boteler & Bro./Washington.” The firm of J. W. Boteler and Brother is first listed in the Washington City Directory in 1867 and it was in existence until 1881 when the name of the firm was changed to J. W. Boteler & Son. The dates of Boteler & Brother encompasses the period of the celebration of the Centennial of the United States in 1876. This celebration created intense interest in the Presidency and objects which symbolized the office, providing a ready market for copies of the Lincoln china. Indeed several different pieces of White House china have been brought to our attention with family legends that they were purchased at the “World’s Fair.” In each case it has been clear that the “Fair” meant the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. Two reproduction plates have been brought to the Smithsonian Institution for examination. On both of these the words “Administration/Abraham Lincoln” were stamped on the back in red. It is well for collectors of White House china to remember that the original pieces of the Lincoln service did not bear any mark on the reverse.