"John Adams"

Porcelain

Dessert Plate, $44.00; Teacup & Saucer, $59.00

President John Adams and First Lady Abigail Adams were the first occupants of what was then called "The President's House", moving in in the fall of 1800. In the short time that the Adams' lived there, a blue cornflower design manufactured in Sevres served as the first presidential china to be used in what would eventually be called The White House. This porcelain dinnerware was originally purchased by Adams while he served as foreign minister to France in 1780.

It is likely that this is the china that the Adams used in the first New Year's reception in the mansion in 1801. The house was only partially furnished and the reception was held in the upstairs Oval Room with the formality that had been established by the Washingtons in New York and Philadelphia.