For Immediate Release
October 27, 2008
Digital images available
Media Contact:
Melissa Wood (703) 799-5203
mwood@mountvernon.org
MOUNT VERNON, Va. – On Friday, November, 14, Mottahedeh President Wendy Kvalheim will discuss and sign pieces from Mount Vernon’s Prosperity pattern the fine china company’s newest reproduction. During this special signing, all visitors will receive a 10% discount on Mottahedeh china from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Shops at Mount Vernon. Kvalheim and Mount Vernon’s Director of Collections, Carol Borchert Cadou, will also be available to sign their books, “From Drawing Board to Dinner Table” and “The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon.”. Admission is free to the Shops at Mount Vernon, however china and books must be purchased from the Shops at Mount Vernon in order to be signed.
About the Prosperity Pattern
Beginning in the spring of 1757 George Washington placed orders to his English agents for “white stone” tableware, also known as English white stoneware. By December 1757 the first shipment arrived from Bristol, and the full set of white salt-glaze stoneware included “6 dozn finest white stone plates,” along with “dishes, patti pans, mugs, tea pots, Slop Basons, butter dishes,” and “mustard pots.” In the 1750s and 1760s the relatively inexpensive yet fashionable white-fired stoneware produced in England was the most widely used tableware in the American colonies, as it could be molded into a variety of specialized forms for use in dinner serviced and tea wares. In need of all kinds of tablewares for Mount Vernon, Washington ordered large quantities of stoneware for his bachelor household.
About the China
The Mount Vernon Prosperity pattern is a glossy hard porcelain reproduction of the Staffordshire English Salt glaze ware that was very popular in colonial America. This elegant and contemporary tableware is stain proof, dishwasher safe and microwaveable. The unusual contrasting matte finished rim is unglazed but is non-porous.
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Events, programs, and activities are subject to change.
Public Information: 703-780-2000; 703-799-8697 (TDD); www.mountvernon.org
