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Merchant of Grace

From its humble roots in Trenton, Lenox went head-to-head with European potteries to put American porcelain on the decorative arts map.

By Doris Goldstein

Had you been a guest at an official White House dinner prior to 1918, the formal table settings would have been European or Asian. But that year President Woodrow Wilson — the former New Jersey governor giving an obvious nod to his roots — commissioned an official state service of 1,700 pieces from Lenox Inc., making the Trenton firm the first American porcelain company to grace a presidential table. “When Wilson chose Lenox to produce this set of presidential china, it gave the company a boost in the eyes of Americans,” says Nicholas Ciotola, curator of cultural history at the New Jersey State Museum. Lenox would go on to create services for Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt (1934), Harry and Bess Truman (1951), Ronald and Nancy Reagan (1981), Bill and Hillary Clinton (2000), and George W. and Laura Bush (2008).

When Walter Scott Lenox founded Lenox Ceramic Art Company in 1889, he selected the New Jersey capital for its transportation system and access to fuel and clay deposits — two necessities for the manufacture of ceramics. Lenox began as an art studio, creating unique enameled tea services, vases, and pitchers, but by the turn of the century, as more Americans added a separate dining room to their homes for entertaining, Lenox introduced elaborate service plates by William Morley, who was considered the greatest of all china painters. The plates were so well received that Lenox began offering complete sets of dinnerware — and

history was made. In 1906, the company changed its name to Lenox Inc. to reflect its new mission. The earliest patterns were decorated with transfer prints, then enhanced with hand coloring; later patterns used full-color lithographic decals. Lenox also offered custom-design services, many of which were trimmed with gold borders or with hand-painted decorations in the center. It eventually added a new line of accessories, which included lamps, figurines, vases, and pitchers.

“In its heyday, from the 1920s to the 1960s, Lenox was the most important porcelain manufacturer in the Western hemisphere and was central to New Jersey’s identity as one of the great manufacturing centers in America,” says Ulysses Grant Dietz, the Newark Museum’s curator of decorative arts.

Over the years, Lenox collectibles became increasingly popular. Bill Nickerson, a dealer at the

Haddonfield Antique Center who sells vintage (late 1940s–50s) Lenox vases, bowls, and serving ware, notes that pieces from this period have a green back stamp or sometimes an image of an artist’s palette. “If it’s a peel-off label, it’s not authentic,” Nickerson advises. If you are interested in Lenox collectibles from 2000 to the present, especially Disney figurines, visit Chesterton Manor in Telford, Pennsylvania. Note that if you are buying newer items as collectibles, they should be in their

original packages. Today Lenox is also known as a wedding registry staple and can be found at major retailers.

Lenox is celebrating its 120th anniversary, a distinction no other American porcelain company can claim. Although it closed its New Jersey factory in 2005 and moved its headquarters to Bristol, Pennsylvania, the company is very much alive and forging new legacies.