VISUAL ARTS

This special exhibition on view at the Concord Museum showcases over 100 pieces of porcelain used by American presidents from Washington to Lincoln to Reagan as they entertained distinguished gatherings of diplomats, celebrities, and royalty at the national "First Table." The Presidential china in the McNeil Americana Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is considered to be the finest grouping of its kind outside of the nation's capital. The collection provides a unique overview of changing styles and forms of ceramics used in a highly visible and unique American household across three centuries. On view in the exhibition are services purchased for official use in the President's House, as well as family services, that reflect the personal taste, origins, and status of particular presidents and first ladies.