Object Spotlight: A Presidential Plate Warmer
Warm plates. In the 18th century having such tableware was a sign that you had really made it. There were no ovens for heating such things, so George Washington had to purchase a special apparatus – a plate warmer – to achieve the requisite temperature for fine dining.
Hot dishes, after all, allowed dinner company to enjoy a meal whose fleeting warmth was much decelerated. Plate temperature apparently became a concern for Washington – or those running his kitchen – during the early years of his presidency, when he was living in New York and bought two plate warmers from local merchants Berry & Rogers in August 1790.
The contraptions are pretty straightforward – they consist of an iron box with an open back that is set next to the fireplace. Because Washington’s plate warmers were japanned – or varnished – with a glossy black finish, and had fancy wrought iron legs with slipper feet, they were of a suitable quality to be placed directly in the dining room, in view of company. Three sheet iron shelves kept stacks of dishes warm until the door on the front was opened and the dishes were retrieved and placed on the table before a meal.
The pair served Washington and his guests throughout his presidency in Philadelphia. (Although purchased in New York, they were likely never used there since the Washingtons took a vacation at Mount Vernon from late that August until November, before heading to Pennsylvania.)
A warm dish was no doubt an open invitation to pile on the feast-like foods sometimes consumed by the president and his guests. Roast beef, veal, turkeys, ducks, fowls and hams accompanied by puddings, jellies, oranges, apples, nuts, almonds, figs, raisins and a variety of wines and punch were consumed one Thursday, December 24, 1795, as reported by Congressman Theophilus Bradbury of Massachusetts, who happened to be dining chez Washington.
The plate warmers returned with Washington to Mount Vernon upon his retirement, where they no doubt heated many a plate that served up Martha Washington’s fine Virginia ham.
Unlike a substantial portion of Washington’s possessions, one of the plate warmers remained in the Washington family for generations, passing from Martha Washington’s granddaughter Martha Custis Peter on to other descendants who eventually gave it to the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.
Want to catch a glimpse of this curious contraption? Visitors can see the newly conserved plate warmer in the upcoming exhibition, “Hoecakes and Hospitatlity: Cooking with Martha Washington,” which opens February 18 in the F. M. Kirby Gallery of Mount Vernon’s Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center.
Object Spotlight is a regular feature that highlights household belongings used by the Washingtons. Assistant Curator Amanda Isaac contributed to this report. Check out Mount Vernon’s eMuseum to explore more Washington belongings.
Gift of G. Freeland Peter, Jr., 1956 [W-2180]
