Art & Antiques by Dr. Lori
Antiques at President Trump’s
First State Dinner
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Chief calligrapher, Pat Blair, was busy hand-writing
place cards for President Donald J. Trump’s first State
Dinner. She wasn’t the only one.
President Trump invited President Emmanuel Macron,
France’s youngest President at age 39, and approximately
150 guests to the White House for the first
State Dinner of the Trump administration on April 24.
Previous administrations hosted large numbers of guests on the White House
grounds, sometimes beneath a tent. When it comes to the President and Mrs.
Trump, a couple who know a thing or two about hospitality, tents were not
discussed. The Trumps decided that this State Dinner would be an elegant,
understated, and small affair. The Washington National Opera was the
featured entertainment along with a delicious menu prepared by White House
Executive Chef, Cristeta Pasia Comerford, a Filipino-American who has been
in that position since 2005. Wines, a popular collecting niche today, recall
the historic relationship between the United States and France dating back
to the American Revolution. One of the wines served at the State Dinner was
Domaine Serene Chardonnay Evenstad Reserve 2015 ($68/bottle) made from
Dijon’s plants grown in Oregon’s rich soil.
While President Trump likes chocolate cake and President Macron is a discerning
eater, the setting for the dinner was the State Dining Room. First Lady
Melania Trump, who is so very well-known for her impeccable style, good
taste, and fashion sense, organized the event and decided on its many details
ushering in both style and grandeur. The decisions of the First Lady in concert
with her social secretary, Rickie Niceta and staff ranged from the dinner menu
and seating chart to the décor’s color scheme and table linens. The antiques
on display for the event included late 19th Century gold and wooden chairs,
seasonal centerpieces, Presidential china drawn from two previous administrations,
vermeil flatware, gold rimmed etched drinking glasses, and other
decorative accessories.
As guests entered the State Dining Room, they walked through Cross Hall.
The hall was lined with oversized classical urns hosting Washington’s famous
cherry blossoms, an annual sign of spring in our nation’s capital. Visitors flock
to Washington each year to see the lovely buds, for the State Dinner, the
interior was filled with more than 1,200 cherry blossom branches. The scene
was reminiscent of Europe’s promenades as the White House decorations
highlighted grand classicism in Western culture.
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White House exterior
/www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
/www.deercreekstables.com
