1817

Dessert Plate

The first surviving official (state) service is the dessert service for thirty persons ordered by President Monroe in 1817. As the first porcelain specifically commissioned for use in the White House, the design featured an elaborate decorative program of national symbolism created especially for the President’s House. The amaranth border refers to a color and a flower believed never to fade, and therefore, to be immortal. The vignettes in the border represent strength, agriculture, commerce, art, and science. The Arms of the United States in the center of the plate, presented as an ascendant eagle, probably derive from American coinage of about 1810.