President Roosevelt’s beautiful personally-owned and -used cup and saucer set with a gorgeous deep magenta Japanese pattern, both with identical British makers’ marks on the bottom. The cup measures 3″ tall and has a 5.75″ diameter rim, featuring a magnificent intricate design with alternating flower and village vignettes, and a seaside courtyard scene in the bottom of the bowl, with the same scene depicted on the sides of the cup. The saucer measures an impressive 8″ in diameter and features a matching vignette pattern around the rim and the seaside courtyard scene prominently displayed in the center, showing a person on the steps of a building by the shore, with a sailboat and building in the distance. There is a thin hairline crack inside the cup near the bottom, in no way affecting the appearance or integrity of the piece. Includes a detailed letter of provenance on White House letterhead from Lillian Rogers Parks, who was a housekeeper and seamstress at the White House for over 30 years, from President Hoover through President Eisenhower. In part: “The lovely pink patterned large cup…was owned and used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. On the bottom it is marked with an anchor surrounded by a crossed leaf decor and reads above 'Japan' and below 'England.' The Roosevelts brought this piece to the White House when they arrived on March 4, 1933. President Roosevelt occasionally used this large cup for soup or coffee. He liked his coffee in a big cup. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt gave the cup and saucer to me along with another one of a different color at the time of the President's death." A truly superb FDR relic.
