The Washington Winter Show
Treasures of the First Families
2012 washington winter show Loan Exhibition


curated by Leslie B. Jones

This loan exhibition provides its visitors a special opportunity to see objects normally not on view outside of the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue address, as the White House does not loan out its collection to institutions other than the Smithsonian.

Objects featured reflect the interiors of Presidents James Madison, James Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Woodrow Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy, among others. 

The 2012 Loan Exhibition, Treasures of the First Families, curated by Leslie B. Jones, presents a rare view of objects, which once graced the interiors of America’s favorite residence: the White House.


Invitation from Thomas Jefferson to Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Nourse
(Courtesy National Society of the Colonial Dames at Dumbarton House)

This carefully selected collection of fine art, decorative art, costume, and ephemera from private and public collections, reflects the various functions the White House has served throughout history: as a residence, workplace, museum, and national monument. The objects on display have a direct association to the White House collection both past and present, having either formerly been a part of the collection, or are duplicates of what is currently in the White House.


Grover Cleveland's drinking flask
(Courtesy Mr. Thomas G. Cleveland)

Since 1792, the White House has stood as a symbol of American independence and fortitude. Apart from its burning by the British in 1814, the President’s House has stood as internationally recognizable American symbol, both in its architecture and furnishings. Over the next two hundred years, and forty-four presidents, the White House has been continually refurnished and redecorated to suit the evolving American style and taste of the First Family.


Madison Family Glassware
(Courtesy the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum).
Each administration contributed their own personality to the interior space, and therefore art and furnishings were removed and often sold, with many surviving pieces now in the collections of private individuals, museums, historical institutions and libraries across the world.

 In 1929, under President Hoover, after much of the White House’s treasures had been sold or given away, Congress finally passed an act preventing the removal of objects from the White House in order to retain ownership of the history of the structure and objects intended to reside there.