President Hoover’s personally-owned and -used Chinese rice bowl. Glazed white bowl measures 5″ in diameter, with hand-painted scenes of a family, a river, and pagodas around the outside, and a hand-painted border around the inside edge. This bowl was kept by the Hoovers in their upstairs White House living quarters, and bears a label affixed to the bottom, which reads, “#21 Hoover.” Accompanied by an August 10, 1982, letter of provenance, on a White House card, from Lillian Rogers Parks, who was a best selling author as well as housekeeper and seamstress at the White House for over 30 years, from Hoover through Eisenhower, which reads, in part: “The Chinese rice bowl…was owned & used by Pres. & Mrs. Herbert Hoover in their upstairs living quarters. It was given to my mother, Maggie Rogers, who served the W. H. from 1909 until 1939, when the Hoovers left office.” Expected wear and soiling, otherwise fine condition.
