Presidential Memorabilia Featuring White House China Collection Of Raleigh DeGeer Amyx Up For Auction

BOSTON, MASS.-RR Auction is honored to revisit the internationally renowned collection of the late Raleigh DeGeer Amyx, a well-known historian, author, and recognized collector of rare relics and White House porcelain.

This sale features more than 30 items from his collection, highlighted by an assortment of his beloved White House china. Amyx considered official White House china to be among the most coveted and desirable of presidential relics, as it is both visually appealing and represents the dining table of the president of the United States.

Thomas Jefferson White House China serving plate.
The extraordinarily rare circa 1790s serving plate from Thomas Jefferson’s White House service. The stunningly beautiful white Chinese export porcelain serving plate features painted blue borders with gilt fleur-de-lis edges. Center of the bowl bears an exceptional hand-painted design featuring Jefferson’s neoclassical shield studded with 13 gold stars which encloses the script initial “J,” surmounted by a plumed knight’s helmet.

Dwight D. Eisenhower White House China service plate.
Radiant service plate from the official White House china ordered by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1955. The imposing service plate measures 11.5″ in diameter, and features a gilt presidential seal at center, surrounded by wide gold rim covered with raised coin gold medallions; the intensive manufacturing process required eight separate firings to acquire the desired finish. Reverse bears the maker’s mark: “Castleton Studios, Made in U.S.A., The White House, November 1955.” This rare and magnificent example is one of just 120 large service plates delivered to the White House in November 1955.

In addition to these lots from the collection of Raleigh DeGeer Amyx, this auction brings to market a number of significant and historically interesting presidential autographs and artifacts sourced from other private collections.

Among these are George Washington’s birthday feast plate, personally-owned and used by Andrew Jackson as documented in a handwritten letter to his wife; a letter from Abraham Lincoln to former Fort Sumter commander Robert Anderson; a rare custom-bound presentation volume of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Crusade in Europe; and a silver Tiffany’s ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’ calendar commissioned by John F. Kennedy to give the aides who saw him through the tense thirteen days in October 1962.

The Presidential Memorabilia auction from RR Auction concludes February 13.