President Roosevelt’s personally-owned red cast heavy iron donkey figurine which he once displayed in his White House study, measuring 4.5″ tall and 4.5″ long, featuring a slot in its saddle for use as a coin bank. 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 Hoover through Eisenhower, in part: “The red donkey was owned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He gave it to me in 1935 or 1936, on a hot summer day. F. D. R. used to call me ‘little girl.’ Someone had given him the donkey years before. And he kept it on the mantle in his study at the White House…F. D. R. was probably the man with more hobbies than any President we have ever had. He collected a million things, including, for some obscure reason, little dogs and pigs. He seemed to get annoyed when people would present him with the Democratic symbol—the donkey—when what he really wanted was dogs and pigs. I used to pack F. D. R.’s collection everytime his study was [re]painted.” An excellent piece, in splendid condition, associated with the president’s hobbies as well as his politics, enhanced by its fantastic provenance and humorous backstory.
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