#state gift

[europesroyalsjewels]

Ruby & Diamond Earrings ♕ State Property, Currently worn by Camilla, The Princess of Wales 

[richardnixonlibrary]

Another game from our museum is this beautiful Oware set from Ghana. It was given as a state gift in 1972.

[europesroyalsjewels]

King Faisal of Saudi Arabia Necklace ♕ Official Gift - State Property, Currently worn by Queen Elizabeth II  

[richardnixonlibrary]

Porcelain chess set by Cybis in our museum collection is an artist's proof of a gift for the USSR. The rook is, um, interesting. 

[fordlibrarymuseum]

In honor of National Coffee Day, here's a coffee service given to President Ford by Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik of Denmark on May 10, 1976.

This Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Colonial Coffee-service includes a coffee pot with lid, a creamer, a sugar bowl with lid, four coffee cups, four coffee saucers, and a serving tray. Each item features the silhouette of an American Patriot such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. Additionally, each piece has a tortoise shell glaze and a gold band around the bottom, with a gold grapevine inlay around the top. 

With the exception of the added silhouettes, this coffee set is an exact replica of one designed and produced by the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory in 1782. The Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory designed the Colonial Coffee-service in commemoration of the American Bicentennial and the factory’s bicentennial.

[fordlibrarymuseum]

State Dinner Styling

Betty Ford wore this chiffon gown at the state dinner honoring President Kekkonen of Finland. Designed by Albert Capraro, the floor-length dress features a two layered sandstone-stripe design.

Mrs. Ford paired the gown with the "Collar of St. Arsene," which First Lady Jehan Sadat of Egypt had given to her as a state gift on October 27, 1975. The necklace, made of gold-plated silver and cut glass, dates to the pre-Arabic Roman period.

[fordlibrarymuseum]

As part of her visit Queen Elizabeth II presented a number of state gifts to the Fords. These included an ornate Bicentennial Commemorative tureen painted with red, blue, and gold. An image of the White House is painted on one side, while the other shows a side view of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. For display the tureen came with a specially designed wooden base with an engraved plaque.

Queen Elizabeth also gave gifts to individual family members. Betty Ford received a custom designed gold and diamond star burst brooch, while Jack Ford was given a set of four gold-tone cuff links.  The jewelry featured Her Majesty's cipher "E II R."

In return the Fords presented Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip with the bronze statue "Two Champs" by Henry Jackson, which depicted a rider on a bucking horse.

[fordlibrarymuseum]

President Ford and French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing exchanged state gifts following the arrival ceremony on May 17, 1976.

France gave an antique 18th-century printing press to the United States, which was set up to print copies of the Declaration of Independence. In return President Giscard d'Estaing received a bronze cast of a bust of the Marquis de Lafayette. The original sculpture, created by William Rush during Lafayette's visit to America in 1824-25, was in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.