President Rutherford B. Hayes White House porcelain “On Chesapeake Bay” game platter, manufactured by Haviland & Co. French Limoges, 1880-86, of rectangular form with gilt trim, rolled corners, and decorated with a canvasback duck in a naturalistic setting, the back marked “Fabrique Par/Haviland & Co./d’ apres les dessins/De/Theo: R. Davis”, “H&Co.”, “Design Patented/August 10th 1880/No. 11936”, impressed “B 18”, and paper label for Hall House, New York with inventory number. Note: Of all of the White House dinner services the most legendary was that of President Rutherford B. Hayes commissioned in 1879. The artist Theodore R. Davis (American 1840-1894) of Harper’s Weekly, while photographing the president and his cabinet, met First Lady Lucy Hayes in the conservatory when testing his equipment. A new china service had been ordered and the decoration for the dessert service was to draw inspiration from the ferns in the glass houses. Davis thought that it was a shame to limit just the one service to the ferns and that the entire set should highlight the flora and fauna of the United States. The First Lady was enthralled by the idea and placed Davis in charge of the design of the service. Each piece features a hand painted scene of animals set in naturalistic settings, tropical landscapes, or even molded snow shoes and baskets. This piece was made for the general public and is illustrated in Margaret Brown Klapthor, "Official White House China", 1999, p. 109. Of the two game platters ordered for the White House, both are accounted for. Approx. h. 2.75", w. 18", d. 12".

Chip to left side; restored chip to lower left corner with stable crack extending down; no apparent utensil marks.