A Look at the White House China Collections

I've been reading a lot of books about the White House recently. I've always been an avid reader, and before the pandemic I went to the library at least twice a month to load up on a stack of books. When the library closed, I switched to using the library's eBook service, which recommended J.B.West's Upstairs at the White House after I indicated that I'm a fan of memoirs. (Affiliate link here and throughout the post). When I finished West's book and rated it highly, Hoopla recommended more behind-the-scenes at the White House books. I've now read and enjoyed Alonzo Fields' My 21 Years in the White House, Henrietta Nesbitt's White House Diary, as well as Kate Andersen Brower's The Residence. I also read one book that I particularly enjoyed despite it being intended for kids: Joe Rhatigan's White House Kids. 

One of my favorite things about reading digital books is that I can quickly and easily look something up as I'm reading. Of course, "quickly" looking up one fact often turns into an hours-long descent into a fascinating topic. Thus, I ended up spending a lot of time researching the White House china collections. Among other things, I learned the Trumps did not design a signature china collection, a tradition followed by almost every previous president. If you are interested in learning about the White House china, this timeline is very interesting, and I recommend giving it a look. 

While I can say with near 100% certainty that I will never be asked to design a set of presidential china, it's still fun to think about what the deRosier pattern would be. Simple, clean, and elegant, for sure. Pure white, not ivory. Perfectly round, not scalloped. Beyond that, I'm not sure. 

I couldn't find images of all the presidential china collections in the public domain, but I did find one for my very favorite set, the GW Bush collection. It's elegant and interesting without being too busy. 

There is a better photograph of it, and of many of the other presidential china collections, in this Architectural Digest article. My second favorite, the Reagan setting, shares a similar interesting diamond pattern around the edge. Clearly, the deRosier setting should be inspired by this element!

There are plenty of other sets I like, particularly those of Wilson and Truman. However, having not been in the White House to see how the china looks with the architecture and furnishings, there might be others I love more for the specific location. What are your favorites? Tell me in the comments!