Oval Fruit Basket, Compote, Round Fruit Basket in the Lincoln State Service

These porcelain dessert serving pieces, including an oval fruit basket, a compote, and a round fruit basket, were made in France and decorated by the New York firm E.V. Haughwout & Co. in 1861. The pieces were part of the "royal purple" or "Solferino" service first ordered for the White House during the Abraham Lincoln administration, and reordered through the 1880s. The pattern includes a design likely inspired by the Great Seal of the United States, featuring an eagle standing atop a shield and holding arrows and an olive branch.