Presidential China

Laura Bush unveiled the Bush Presidential china service yesterday and broke with tradition to add not one, but two patterns to the White House collection. According to a Washington Post article, the Bushes have been dining off of the Reagan, and Johnson (because of the wildflowers) china in the private residence and have been using the Reagan and Clinton (because of the quantity) china for state dinners. The First Lady explained that she hoped the less formal, but still hand-painted porcelain, service would be a nice option for the families in the residence. The Bush's formal service was manufactured by Lenox (as is typical) and features a green basket-weave and gold trim and bald eagle. The more formal service was ordered in enough quantity to be used at state dinners - 320 settings - for a total cost of near $500,000 paid through private funds.

While I'm sure Mrs. Bush has been working on these designs and their manufacture for a long time, I'm a little annoyed by the ostentatiousness of some of her design decisions in this economy. In order to illustrate, lets talk a little bit about the Clinton china in comparison. The lovely people at Lenox indicate that the Clinton service was different because it coincided with the bicentennial of the White House, which called for a commemoration and a replenishment of the china used at state dinners (which had not been done in two decades). So, the Clinton's ordered 300 pieces of Lenox china with images of the White House and different architectural designs on each of the placesettings. That service was ordered in 2000 and utilized pale creamy colors rather than the bold primary colors featured on most services (red, gold, other colors of Empire). Ok, fair enough I think.

What this makes me understand about the Bush service is that 8 years later, the White House needs another full service for state dinners. And further, that this service needs to be larger than the previous service (really Laura, do you really need a 9-inch soup cup and a bouillion soup cup AND a cream soup cup (with respective saucers)?). And further, that this service needs to be gold. Really? Gold?!

Now I'm in no way saying I disagree with the tradition of presidential china, which I know is still out there for many. I understand it's expensive and nobody really NEEDS it, but in terms of the historical collection of presidential china, I understand and can appreciate it. And in typical Bush Administration fashion, I'm not even really shocked so much as disappointed. I suppose that the great thing about presidential china is that it so often reflects the taste and mood of the time of it's creation and these pieces are no different. In fact, the Bush china design does reveal something about the Bush legacy. In the face of the greatest economic crisis in decades, the Bushes think... let's do two. And let's do 'em in gold.