Object Details
Nine French Porcelain Pieces from President Martin Van Buren's Dinner Service
ca. 1841-1844
Object Essay
William Henry Harrison (1773–1841), President of the United States for only one month before his death in 1841, is remembered primarily for his campaign, the first designed to appeal to the popular, rather than political, vote.1See DAB, s.v. “William Henry Harrison.” Unsuccessful in his presidential bid in 1835, Harrison and his supporters had almost immediately gone to work creating the image of the rustic military hero who would later win the White House from Martin Van Buren. The images displayed on this pearlware jug were developed during the years of preparation for the 1840 campaign.
Harrison’s opponents charged that the old warrior would be better off with a jug in a log cabin than in the White House, but from this insult was born the famous “Log Cabin Campaign,” which stressed Harrison’s humble occupation—he had a farm near Cincinnati at the time—and his military victories. The battle of Tippecanoe Creek in Indiana, for example, was fought to secure land that had been sold to the United States by the Indians. Chief Tecumseh objected to the sale on the grounds that individual Indians had no right to sell something that belonged to all tribes. Although the Indians eventually returned to Tippecanoe, Harrison was credited with a great victory. Tecumseh then allied his followers with the British, and skirmishes continued until the battle of the Thames River in Canada in 1813, when Harrison was finally able to quiet the Indian Revolt. There he defeated the British General Proctor in Canada and killed Tecumseh. Thus, the names “Tippecanoe” and “Thames” on the flags flanking Harrison on one side of the jug refer to the battles for which he was famous. On the other side, a log cabin is noted as being “TO/LET/IN/1841.” Below the spout, a modified version of the Great Seal shows a banner with the motto “UNION FOR THE SAKE OF THE UNION.”
The decoration of this was intentionally topical, employing by means of copperplate-engraved transfer prints, images considered essential to Harrison’s campaign. The mark for the retailer in Alexandria, then part of Washington, D.C., suggests that the jug was made for distribution in that area.2According to the 1834 City Directory of the District of Columbia, Miller operated a “China Store” on King Street near Fairfax Street in Alexandria, now Virginia. Like other jugs with timely advertising, this one most was probably meant to sit on a bar, filled with water for mixing in whiskey. Thus displayed, Harrison’s campaign image was certain to find the supporters he sought.
Ellen Paul Denker and Bert R. Denker
Excerpted from Clement E. Conger, et al. Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1991.