William McKinley (1843-1901)
President, 1897-1901

Knowles, Taylor and Knowles of East Liverpool, Ohio, delivered three dozen bone china plates to the White House in November 1898, the first entirely American-made china acquired for the executive mansion. The design included the Great Seal of the United States in the center with gold tracery on a wide border of cobalt blue. According to Colonel John N. Taylor, president of the company and a political ally of McKinley’s, the plates were criticized “severely and seemed to give such poor satisfaction that I have felt it would be wrong to ask pay for them.”¹

The McKinleys continued the Clevelands’ practice of purchasing a variety of china patterns from various retailers in Washington. One such open-stock pattern associated with the McKinley administration was made by Haviland and Company and features a wreath of full-blown pink roses inside a dark blue narrow rim band. An additional rose drops from the wreath across an inner gold border that encloses a gold filigree medallion. Pieces of this china at the White House also display the Dulin and Martin mark; perhaps the pattern was designed specifically for the Washington retailer. The platter, plate, and cup and saucer included here bear both the Haviland and the Dulin and Martin marks but do not have a verifiable history of use in the White House. Susan Gray Detweiler, from American Presidential China: The Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2008), pp. 71-72.

Notes:
1) Klapthor, Margaret Brown, et al. Official White House China. 2d ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, p. 143.