A Monroe Service Porcelain Amaranth and Gilt Decorated Bowl. Paris: Pierre Louis Dagoty & Edouard D.Honoré, 1817. Circular, with amaranth (claret-red) border decorated with allegorical vignettes representing Strength, the Arts, Commerce, the Sciences, and Agriculture, on three gilt decorated paw feet (lacking cover, minor chipping to one foot). Height: 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) Diameter: 5 3/4 inches (14.5 cm.) Provenance: Sold Christie's New York, 26 Jan 1995 lot 99. Part of a state service that President James Monroe selected for the White House. George Washington established an early precedent for the use of prestigious French porcelain in presidential and diplomatic settings through his ownership of the celebrated Niderviller service, a specially commissioned French porcelain tea and coffee service presented to Martha and George Washington in 1782 by the Comte de Custine (see lot 1). This distinguished assemblage was later complemented by Washington's celebrated 309-piece white and gilt Paris porcelain state dinner service, incorporating important Sèvres wares acquired from the Comte de Moustier in 1790. The use of these imported French porcelains within the official residence of the President carried profound symbolic significance, reflecting the crucial support France had extended to the American colonies during the War for Independence. The popularity of French porcelain in post-Revolutionary America is well documented. Prominent figures such as John Jay, Gouverneur Morris, and Benjamin Franklin acquired fashionable Paris porcelains, helping to shape the tastes and collecting habits of America's emerging political and social elite. By the opening decades of the 19th century, French porcelains remained highly fashionable in the United States. Elegant hollowware forms inspired by Classical antiquity and enriched with Greek and Roman ornament adorned the tables of affluent American households. When James Monroe assumed the presidency in 1817, however, the nation was still recovering from the devastation of the War of 1812. The White House, newly constructed only years earlier, had been burned by British forces in 1814 along with much of the city of Washington, and most of its furnishings had been destroyed or rendered unusable. In response, Congress appropriated $20,000 to enable Monroe to refurnish the presidential residence with furniture, glass, china, and silver suitable for a head of state. William Lee, Second Auditor of the Treasury Department, was charged with assessing the surviving contents of the White House and supervising the acquisition of replacements under Monroe's direction. Describing the condition of the presidential household upon Monroe's arrival, Lee remarked: 'There was no resource in the remnants of glass, china, linen, etc., of which scarcely an article would serve indeed we may say there remained none of these articles fit for use' (Klapthor). The resulting Monroe Service, manufactured in Paris by Dagoty & Honoré, became one of the most celebrated presidential porcelain services of the early republic. Its dessert wares, including this bowl, was among the most elaborate forms within the service. Today, surviving pieces are preserved in the collections of the White House, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Winterthur Museum. See Klapthor, Offical White House China New York, 1999, page 40. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing