Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973)
President, 1963-69

The state dining service ordered for the White House in 1967 was designed under the close direction of Claudia Taylor “Lady Bird” Johnson. A departure from the formal patterns favored by earlier twentieth-century presidents, the design is based partly on history, with a return to the Monroe interpretation of the Great Seal, and partly on Mrs. Johnson’s enthusiasm for the conservation movement. Most pieces were decorated with one or more wildflowers with a background or border of gold dots; the after-dinner coffee cup features the Texas bluebonnet. Designed by Van Day Truex of Tiffany and Company, the service was manufactured in New Castle, Pennsylvania, by Castleton China, a subsidiary of Shenango Pottery that was formed in 1940 to create fine china in addition to the durable restaurant ware that was the mainstay of Shenango production. During the manufacture of the Johnson state service, Shenango was absorbed into the Interpace Corporation of New Castle. Neither Castleton nor Shenango is in operation today. Susan Gray Detweiler, from American Presidential China: The Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2008), p. 84.