Exhibition Guide
Pieces from the Hayes Presidential Service
Audio
Looking with Former BMA Curator David Park Curry
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Audio
Looking with Chef John Shields
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Additional Images
Art Object Info
These plates are decorated with native birds, animals, and plants representing habitats across the United States. They were designed for the White House during the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893). Guided by watercolor images of American flora and fauna by artist-illustrator Theodore Davis, French ceramicists painted and gilded each piece by hand. Produced just after the American Civil War (1861-1865), Davis’ representation of both northern and southern species symbolically united the recently divided nation on the president’s dining table and through rare copies, such as most of these examples, made for private households.
Pieces from the Hayes Presidential Service
These plates are decorated with native birds, animals, and plants representing habitats across the United States. They were designed for the White House during the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893). Guided by watercolor images of American flora and fauna by artist-illustrator Theodore Davis, French ceramicists painted and gilded each piece by hand. Produced just after the American Civil War (1861-1865), Davis’ representation of both northern and southern species symbolically united the recently divided nation on the president’s dining table and through rare copies, such as most of these examples, made for private households.