Sauce Boat –Royal Porcelain Manufactory of Sèvres, France, c. 1778. Purchased in 1790 by Washington from Comte de Moustier for the New York house near Federal Hall.

In 1789, the U.S. government rented a house in New York City for President-elect George Washington and authorized funds to furnish it. An extensive list of objects purchased for the house included furniture, plate, looking glasses, linens, carpets, glassware, and china. When compared to the palaces of European monarchs, the President’s House was simple, but few Americans lived on the scale of the Washingtons. In February 1790, George and Martha Washington moved to a larger house near New York’s Federal Hall. To supplement the government’s purchases, the Washingtons also bought furnishings from Comte de Moustier, the French minister and previous occupant of the residence. When the government relocated to Philadelphia in 1791, the furnishings from the President’s House in New York were moved there. When John Adams took office in March 1797, Washington offered to sell him some personal items to complement the furnishings provided by the government. Having less personal wealth than Washington, Adams declined the offer and worried about moving into a sparsely furnished house. A congressional bill appropriating $14,000 for new furnishings and another authorizing the sale of furnishings that were “out of repair, or unfit for use” eased his worries. Betty C. Monkman, The White House: Its Historic Furnishings and First Families, 19-26.