The Diplomatic Reception Rooms

03/10/2026

Created to mark the 250th anniversary of America, “Views of America” explores the nation’s early history
through a remarkable collection of American art and artifacts. Featuring works from roughly 1740 to 1840,
it brings together furniture, paintings, porcelain, and silver that reflect the craftsmanship and spirit of the
country’s founding era.

Among the highlights are porcelain once owned by George Washington, silver by Paul Revere, and chairs
from the family of Francis Scott Key. With paintings by artists such as John Singleton Copley and Gilbert
Stuart alongside decorative arts of the period, the book offers a rich portrait of early American creativity and
culture—drawn from the historic collection of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the U.S. Department of
State.

On sale March 31st. Available for pre-order from your favorite bookseller.

03/06/2024

This American Classical carved mahogany and caned Grecian sofa (c. 1810) is attributed to the shop of Duncan Phyfe (Scottish & American, 1768-1854). It showcases Phyfe's trademark carving that typifies the work of his New York shop. The applied lion’s head is a rare motif on American furniture but was popular in England and in widely circulated design books. Along with lion’s-paw feet, it was among the most distinctive decorative features of the Regency style.

02/27/2024

Mark your calendars! On April 12, will release its long-awaited series, Franklin. Starring Michael Douglas as our nation's first diplomat, the series tells the story of his secret mission to secure American Independence. Tune in to see one of our national treasures — the Treaty of Paris Desk — loaned to the production from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms.

02/26/2024

Hiram Powers used Jean-Antoine Houdon's bust of George Washington as a model for his masterful likeness of America's first president. Sculpted in marble and showing its subject wearing a draped toga, it endows Washington with virtues associated with Republican Rome, and epitomizes the neoclassical taste that prevailed in early America.

02/23/2024

Corinthian columns adorned with the Great Seal of the United States surround the elliptical Treaty Room at the U.S. Department of State.

02/13/2024

This pair of silver sugar tongs belonged to our nation’s first First Lady, Martha Washington. First Ladies have long played an important role in American diplomacy.

There was no official title for the sitting president’s wife for many years. Many early First Ladies were called "Mrs. President", "Mrs. Presidentress", or, in Martha Washington’s case, "Lady Washington". Throughout the early to mid-1800s, the title of “First Lady” gained more popularity in referring to the White House’s hostess. Although this position is traditionally filled by the president’s wife, this role has also been filled by other female relatives, including daughters, nieces, and daughters-in-law.

Although the position of First Lady is ever evolving, the primary duty is to serve as a welcoming hostess to the White House. Martha Washington hosted many social gatherings at the White House, giving some women a brief chance to participate in backroom politics during a time they could not vote.

02/09/2024

01/30/2024

“No one was more fashionable, more sought after in Paris than Doctor Franklin. The crowd chased after him in parks and public places,” French artist Élisabeth Vigée-Le Brun wrote.

Already well-known for his key and kite experiments in France, Benjamin Franklin was welcomed as a celebrity when he traveled to France seeking allies for the brewing war. While silks and powdered wigs were once all the rage in France, rustic fur caps like the one Franklin regularly sported quickly became in vogue.

Seeing his face plastered across engravings, medallions, rings, bracelets, and s***f boxes, Franklin wrote to his daughter, “Your father’s face is as well-known as that of the moon.”

Franklin’s celebrity appeal had major implications for the burgeoning new country. Thanks to Franklin’s charm and deft diplomacy, France officially acknowledged the United States as an independent country in 1777. Franklin would later convince France to provide financial and military assistance to America during the Revolutionary War.

01/23/2024

Thomas Jefferson once said, “Architecture is my delight.” And Jefferson would have truly been delighted by the room architect Edward Vason Jones designed in his honor in 1974.

The Jefferson Room, with its Greek and Roman references and Palladian proportions, is a celebration of the classic styles so often utilized by Jefferson. Although never formally trained in architecture, Jefferson made design contributions to many of our nation’s great buildings, including the Capitol and the White House.

To Jefferson, the architectural elements of order, symmetry, and balance in a political building were not merely used for style but to reflect the American political ideals of order, equality, and fairness for all. For America to break away from Europe culturally, America’s architecture also needed to break away stylistically.

Those who have visited Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home, may notice several similarities between the Jefferson Room and his Charlottesville home, including the ox skull and rosette plasterwork frieze and the busts in the circular niches over the room’s doorway.

01/16/2024

Known for his Realpolitik and shuttle diplomacy methods, Henry Kissinger dedicated his life to guiding American diplomacy. He was prominent in foreign affairs during the Vietnam and Cold Wars.

Henry Kissinger fled with his family from Germany as a Jewish refugee in 1938. Years later, he would return to Germany as a naturalized citizen with the American Army during World War II. Due to his fluency in German, Kissinger was quickly promoted from private to a Special Agent for the Counterintelligence Corps. As a CIC Agent, Kissinger's assignments included denazification and tracking down Gestapo officers.

In later years, during his time as Secretary of State, the world saw the emergence of many new countries and governments. Kissinger was instrumental in developing diplomatic ties with new governments as well as in performing negotiations between countries.

01/02/2024

For this portrait, artist Jean-Baptise Greuze chose to depict Benjamin Franklin’s benevolent, charming side rather than the formidable nature of the diplomat.

Elie de Beaumont commissioned this portrait of Benjamin Franklin in 1777 when Franklin traveled to France to represent the American Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War. As a philosopher and cosmopolitan man, Franklin was well-loved in France, which was well into their Enlightenment era which valued rational thinking, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

In France, where Benjamin Franklin sat for this portrait, pastels were a popular medium for portraits. However, this pastel portrait was not the intended end result, but rather was made as preparation for the oil portrait artist Jean-Baptise Greuze would eventually paint. Greuze kept the pastel portrait for himself. However, when the portrait painter fell out of favor due to the French Revolution, financial destitution forced the partner to sell the pastel portrait.

12/26/2023

The repoussé silver design style, as seen in this ornate, intricate water pitcher, was popularized by Samuel Kirk and his contemporary Andrew Ellicott Warner in 1830s Baltimore. The repoussé style combines rococo, neoclassical, and late seventeenth-century high-baroque English silver design elements.

All details were crafted completely by hand, making it easy for artisans to craft individualized designs for their customers. Baltimore repoussé silver influenced many American silver makers during this time period, including Tiffany & Co., Reed and Barton, and Gorham Manufacturing Company.

While Samuel Kirk’s earliest work reflected the Philadelphia Empire style, his extensive knowledge of both previous silver styles as well as international styles allowed him to develop and become well-known for the ornate repoussé popular in Baltimore.