Theodore Russell Davis, designer

A chance meeting in the White House between First Lady Lucy Hayes and illustrator and journalist Theodore Davis produced a most extraordinary dinner service. Mrs. Hayes was selecting fern samples to be used as decoration on the presidential service, which had already been contracted with Haviland, and Davis suggested that she use depictions of flora and fauna native to North America, celebrating the country’s natural bounty. Davis became the designer of the service, producing 130 distinct decorations for 562 pieces made for nine courses. Each decoration was drawn by hand, etchings were made to transfer the outlines, basic colors were applied via chromolithographic and decalcomania processes, and enamel details and gilding were added by hand.

The designs ornamenting each piece of this service not only echo the era’s interest in nature and America’s spirit of nationalism—they also often indicate the type of food they were to serve. The turkey striding from a background radiating beams of light and the lobster riding in the surf leave little doubt as to what the diner would soon enjoy. As the ice cream melted, the gilded snow shoe would appear to be covered with snow. The ice cream dish is marked as part of the original service delivered to the White House, whereas the 1880 patent date of the other two pieces indicates that they were part of a limited number of pieces made by Haviland for public sale.