vote on that nomination and another procedural vote on the nominee to be the pentagon's general counsel. when the senate is back in session on monday, live coverage on our companion network c-span 2. coming up on american history tv on c-span3, the evolution of art and design in the white house, from british roots two centuries ago to today . we will hear from an official who works with queen elizabeth art collection. this is an hour. >> for those of you who were here this morning -- weren't here this morning, i mentioned earlier that we spent that morning considering 200 years of the uk and ireland's connection with the white house. we examined the role -- hopefully you've got back and met chuck and seeing the rose

emerging back there. for this part, it is now time to address decorative art. we are incredibly fortunate to have rufus byrd who is the surveyor of queens works of art, and the world collection art was a lot of thing. it looked after the world collection which is one of the most important art collections on the planet. rufus is an author, he's a curator, he will place the decorative arts and fine arts connections, about connecting macro and micro art in all this. rufus is going to evaluate the united states, placing it on a larger perspective. he will be followed by our

honored guest who is the curator of the white house. lydia has been a part of the cradle -- is also a valued partner of the white house historical association. she will byrd -- build on rufus byrd's presentation. without further ado, please welcome rufus byrd. >> [ applause ] >> good afternoon, thank you very much, it's a great privilege and a pleasure to be speaking here today about this remarkably -- remarkable subject. the evolution of decorative arts , we are going to be talking about the american side of things, but it cannot be denied, however that at precisely this moment in

history of our nation, nothing speaks stronger of that relationship so eloquently by those two speakers after lunch. then the young couple tying the knot, having conducted a trance atlantic relationship. they are all very excited about this british and american you -- alliance. seriously, back to the subject. what i want to do in the next 30 minutes or so, is trying to get on a quick journey through two centuries of the evolution of design. i'm going to be choosing different media, different decorative themes running through all of this but not always mentioned is the importance of architecture. of course architecture provided the container, many examples of

great works of art. this of course is especially true with architecture. our story begins in england at the beginning of the 18th century, powerful and owners built their large country mansions in a rather austere style. they publish designs of -- many of those landowners were supporters of the political -- stewart's blood ran in her veins. i'm not going to go to the geological complications. but it supposed to be a classical style, it was supposed to be repurposed, it

was a new national style, drawn from italian sources and in the ideals #designs are published in this book. the architect con campbell was the author. the title was taken from as i hope you can see early designs from the white house, close in style to designs of british taken earlier in the century. some owners of these houses -- in the 1760s one of the best known was thomas spindle, celebrating the bicentennial of his birth this year. he was slated to become one of the most famous british

architectures that people have heard of. chippendale's name was made on account of his skills. and his book of printed designs the cabinetmakers director, this book proved incredibly hot passionate -- i share here with his chair designs, which you can see were copied in america soon after printed. chippendale's furniture was made in the classical style of the 1760s and 70s, his designs, in the direct reflect perfectly. chippendale's -- the means of

production was a turning point, and was at the turning point on one of -- and produced candelabras, silver and other things, you can see some of his work in the upper left-hand corner, by replicating elements of the design and assembling those in various ways thus ensuring -- he successfully applied new technology to the creation of luxury products. in the 1770s, europe was gripped by -- which emerged from the recent designs, many of which derived from archaeological discoveries made

in italy and here the shape of the vase can be seen as a central element. through the 18th century, while the traits of furniture and metal making carried on much of they have done forever, with a notable exception, it was in the field of ceramics that great transformations were brought to the century. here was a new technology, the creation of imitation china, great breakfast nt services were made with porcelain, made to be made fairly cheaply and for a wide market. also, in deluxe format. the

wedgewood, the famous pale blue amma which was in the 1770s, it was so fashionable and influential, he established his own, and using a solid color as a contracting background to the white, the buyer was able to show his pace and sophistication. one of the most famous objects of that day was a vase. wedgewood borrowed it in 1787 and reproduced it in 1790 and his black -- i just keep pressing the wrong button, sorry about that.

now, i'm going ahead. just after the turn-of-the- century, this greek or roman antiquity evolved into a civilization. egypt was being explored. published in 1882, proved to be enormously influential. thanks to the hostilities on the continent of europe between 1802 and hr through the publication succeeded and style spread across europe as a virus. soon enough furniture and interiors were being commissioned to reflect the new style. the dining room, which i'm afraid you can't see, but it's yellow -- which is imitation marble and matching egyptian candelabras, this was designed

by james in 1802 to 1806 so one of the best known and successful publications which included this new style was thomas haute, his -- he was from a wealthy family and traveled much, this combined roman, greek, egyptian and other influences. no publisher would take on the risk -- the book records hopes owned interior which is rich and intensely decorated. it's a newly fashionable part of london. this is the style which may referred to as a regency. prince regent himself did not adopt the styles

himself. george, prince of wealth, the print regent from 1811 was an extraordinary man who almost defined categorization. loan -- known from us bankrupting the nation but adored by art historians that his passion and genius -- he looks forward and backwards and was a builder of fantastical palaces. george had bought a villa at the end of the 18th century and over the next 25 years, greatly enlarged it and transformed the interior into bizarre but spectacular asian inspired fantasies.

there we are. sorry about that. it was the prince of wealth who revived the fashion. many of which were made in china and japan. specifically, to export to europe. inevitably the prince of wales tired of his asian inspired decor, and moved onto his national style. a wave of patriotism brought a revival of that medieval style. gothic was used throughout the 18th century, for the middle of the 1820s, it was enthusiastically taken up by the designer gustus who was the

designer for windsor castle in the 1800s. his campaign to promote the gothic style was found in his book, which as its name suggests, contracted that ancient gothic style, this image on the left, which i hope you can just about make out. he imagined a town with classical architecture in the upper image, and the society, and the image below, it was gothic, broadly medieval. notice the large industrial warehouses, the deeply austere

-- a small chapel has been added alongside an ancient church. everywhere else, and the gothic image, it is the cathedral spires which dominated it. in his case the roman catholic church. god and community holds the operand. if building in the classical style in the 18th century had something of a political dimension, and its association to -- you have the power of -- we see a powerful dimension of design. as we have seen these ideas soon found their way into furniture design another decorative arts. in fact he made -- those which

provided a counter block to the apocalyptic visions of industry, commerce and -- based on the primacy of matchless and -- in his belief that the greatest thing a human being ever does in this world is to see something and tell what is sought in a plane way. the single most important event in the decorative art across the 19th century in britain was a great exposition. the great expedition, a combined a bewildering array of works of art of industry, there are over 7000 exhibits, there were

100,000 individual exhibits. it was a massive display of british imperial money. the project was conceived by henry cove and had animus success. it received 6 million visitors. it led to the establishment of various museums, of course including the victorian museum. although the great exhibition was not the first large-scale straight or exposition -- which continue in reduced format today. such is the international expo and of the world trade fairs. in the 19th century they encouraged the immediate development of products across borders, this was of course incredibly important before the electronic age and the philadelphia exposition in this

-- was credible in this country. prince albert as a prime mover behind the great exhibition encouraged british manufacturers for their displays. including the birmingham metalworking firm. which in 1840 was the first -- the application of a thin layer of silver applied to base metal. before this very public and international display of ernest industry. a young welsh architect had traveled around the mediterranean. this is

something brian referred to earlier, the language of architects for this new industrial age. james sought a new passion and design. his travels took him to grenada , also to cairo and istanbul. in these three places, he became under their spell. it was defined by openness, curiosity and the emulation of other cultures. one of his assistants and assembling this was dr. christopher dresser. a scientist who had sought a career and bought me. the term design theory was

published widely. he is best known for his designs on ceramics, which he did in wedgewood and metalworks, for elkington. the dresser is central to the study of the evolution of british decorative arts. he was able to impose a rigid system on ornamental natural elements. all of which created distinctive designs. for example his design of 1870s reflects that revivalist, which dominated the victorian designs and aged -- since 1850. dresser was certainly well known as a designer in britain, and

was equally admired in the united states. he traveled to chicago in 1776 and met with john mcgraw and his household wares were soon available in major centers in chicago along the eastern seaboard. in april 1879, that washington post notice that demand for modern design was here to stay. the duct of arts mania has in more ways than one #-- the pragmatism and commercialism of dresser was contrasted by the equally -- they were made into textiles and embroidery, his firm, which he started in 1861 was a missionary tail to reform

which he thought was the current state of decorative art. this was of course a very small part of the market. this was one of those things that you always learn nc and galleries -- learn and see in galleries. houses up and down the country that are filled with the revival things. he was unable to spend the time -- his own production, instead

of being accessible to a broad market as he had hoped, became increasingly expensive and affordable to only the wealthy. which he despised. royal commission, i have to say some of my royal commission. especially palace furnishing themes are rarely considered to be in the vanguard of design. one rare exception being from 1866 until 1882 he was introduced to william cooper they were given the job of redecorating two rooms, the armory on the right, and the tapestry room on the left. this was followed by

william morris would feature heavenly in curricular and decorative arts created in america. perhaps understandably, alongside their more famous conservatives, that may be why the thieves attached such a lack of importance to -- the relative an adventurousness of royal commissions and actually be true. whatever the case the accommodation for the ahead of state of what was then the most powerful nation in the world, was sure to be given some thought.

i think this is especially true in the case of queen victoria and prince albert. they found an enormously inventive designer. he was originally from drought and, he would let loose on buckingham palace's interior in the 1860s and produce wonderfully rich polychrome renaissance revival decorations which you can see on the last slide. by the time edward vii succeeded his mother in 1901, the interiors were hopelessly out of date and instead a sort of louis xvi revivalist style was very much in vogue. here i think you can see a very stark contrast, it is more or less as it looks there. the interiors have actually changed very little since the

early 20th century, but mention must be made of queen mary. she was intensely interested in decorative art and a great many of which she recorded in her -- she redecorated her private rooms in the palace, including the japan room and the chinese room, reflecting the fashion of the 1920s for collecting 18th- century -- as we have heard the variety of decorative arts and designs in britain, largely it was dominated by -- often mixing them together which is a historically minded way of thinking. and today we find it

incomprehensible. into the warriors a small group of collectors and architects and designers, sought out pieces of furniture and works of art in that bold and austere early 19th-century regency style such as was published by -- some of which had belonged to thomas himself. like other revivalists, the regency revival was also popular in the us. while england toyed with a style, are more courageous relations in the us filled their showrooms with revivalist. by 1930 the us had experienced several stages of empire, regency revival. its durability perhaps due to the adaptability of -- while interiors of postwar london are best seen in the stark clean and empty rooms of paris house, from 1948 to 1952,

following their marriage in 1947. a lack of cressman and materials in london not to mention the inappropriateness of the lavish expense on royal interior in such a moment of national weakness informed the presentation of the royal interior of the heir to the throne. after princess elizabeth succession is -- in 1952 it became the house of the dowager queen mother, she resided in gradually fading grander over the next few years for her death in 2002 at the age of 102. britain's emergence from postwar in the 1950s is often symbolized , in the center of london was identified as the focal point of a series of nationwide during cultural events. celebrating britain's past and

looking to a new comfortable future. the modernist pavilion showcased british designs arts and culture and latently introduced color into a bleak gray situation. it was a new dawn for enjoying life on modern terms with modern technology. this exposure to contemporary culture coincided with a nostalgic look to the nation's past. probably not dissimilar to the olympic games. so to consider the place of british item in relation to the united states, the chippendale style in philadelphia and new york reflects the political colonial relationship. the appearance and populate her -- popularity of wedgewood -- the 20th century is harder to pin down as political and commercial links when in different directions and the

plurality went hand-in-hand with the new national confidence and individualism. as a final thought, it will be interesting to see what styles harry and megan come up with. thank you. [ applause ] >> and following that, please join us in welcoming the curator of the white house. thank you for having me today. when designing my thoughts i was asked not to focus solely on the objects themselves. but why they are in our collection. i am not able to show you everything. i don't think i'm able to show you anything.

i'm not able to show you everything associated with the united kingdom and ireland. only a few selections. to learn more about these and other objects in our collection, i encourage you to see some of our major publication written by my predecessors who are both here today. namely the white house historic furnishings and first families and official white house china as well as art in the white house, the nation's pride, essays by the art historian. all published by the white house historical association. the objects featured today, i think you will see that nearly -- gestures of the goodwill, tokens of friendship while others were presented to enhance

the historic furnishings, so that only the finest objects would be found in the home of the president of the united states. what better place to begin than with the desk made by the hms resolute. the resolute was part of an expedition formed in 1852, the search for sir john franklin. sir john franklin had set out in 1845 in search of the northwest passage. by july of that year, he had disappeared. in the meantime other expeditions were formed but this one consisted of five vessels including the resolute. it was constructed especially for arctic service. the bow was sheathed in iron to help cut through the ice and it was under the command of -- in april 1854 it was trapped in the ice. they had already sent to --

spent two winters in the arctic, supplies were running low and the expedition commander decided it was time to abandon the ice found height of icebound vessel. under protest and with some ceremony the resolute was abandoned on may 15, 1854 in the ice of melville sound south of cornwallis island. in september 1855 she was found by an american well ship, the george henry. in command of james buffington. she had drifted nearly 1100 miles away from where she had been left. captain. bevington knew of the resolute, the expedition and the abandonment and thought safe delivery of this ship to some port could be profitable. at first they had to prepare her to sail. she was listing badly to her port said, she still had ice attached, and it took several weeks to pump out the water and resume an even keel. captain. bevington divided his crew between the two ships.

departed in october and their trip home was very challenging. the resolute was missing her topmast, she was poorly rigged, and they repeatedly ran into bad weather. they finally arrived in new london connecticut on christmas eve of 1855. the suggestion to refit the ship and return it to england came from a wealthy philanthropist henry grenell. he had financed an earlier expedition in search of john franklin. a bill was introduced in congress on june 24, 1856. to authorize the purchase and the restoration of the resolute and $40,000 was appropriated. on november 13, 1856, the resolute set sail for england under the command of naval officer henry hartstein and arrived the summer 12th.

here you see queen victoria and her family visiting the ship and being greeted by captain. hartstein. the captain and his presentation said allow me to welcome your majesty on board the resolute and in obedience to the will of my countrymen and of the president of the united states, to restore her to you, not only as an evidence of a friendly feeling to your sovereignty but as a token of love, admiration and respect to your majesty personally. the resolute was decommissioned in 1879 and dismantled in 1880. on august 26 of that year victor drummond, the british ambassador at washington, wrote to secretary of state william evert, of an impending gift of a writing table being made at the direction of the queen from the timbers of the arctic discovery ship resolute at chatham dockyard. it would be presented to the

president of the united states and grateful acknowledgment of the restoration in 1856. this writing table was shipped to new york on november 15 on a steamship. it arrived at the white house on november 23. the lucky recipient, president. rutherford b hayes , wasted no time using it and on the day of its arrival he wrote a brief letter to historian george bancroft which said this is hayes wishes me to thank you for the english newspapers, containing good words about the administration of her husband. it gives me pleasure to say that i do it in the first note written in the desk made for the timbers of the resolute sent by queen victoria to the president. there is a plaque mounted on the drawer that is still there today i might add. it briefly outlines the history of the ship and says that this table was presented by a queen of britain and ireland to the president of the united states as a memorial of the courtesy

and kindness which dictated the offer of the gift of the resolute. i also wanted to share this image with you. it is something that appeared a couple of weeks later, in the december 11, 1880 issue of mike leslie's illustrated newspaper. it was a design not chosen that featured relief carvings of both president. hayes and queen victoria. if you look carefully on the side you will see that there were arctic themes provided in relief carving. what was selected was a much simpler design with carved moldings and royal flags, the pedestal was the work of william evanston, a carver at chatham dockyard. the knee whole panels was added at the request of president. franklin roosevelt. it was partly a desire to hide

his leg braces and put a safe under his desk. it was designed by winslow and constructed by hard -- of hard oak. unfortunately president. roosevelt did not live long enough to see the panel completed. but i can tell you that this desk has been used by nearly every president since rutherford b hayes, it was first placed in the oval office by president. kennedy. after president. kennedy's death, it left on exhibition and was returned to the white house in 1977 for president. carter. and here you see it today in president trumps oval office. as we learned at lunch time, during the latter part of the 19th century there were various pieces of china purchased from british companies for the white house. they weren't full services but

i wanted to show you briefly a selection of some of those pieces. the slide on the left shows you some dinner plates that were acquired during the cleveland administration. on the right are some examples from the mckinley administration. dinner plates made by wedgwood, mitton and the smaller t plate also made by minton. in 1903, a service was purchased for the white house made by wedgwood. by 1901 during the presidency of theater roosevelt it was pretty obvious that the white house was in need of a full china service. a company in new york was charged to help them acquire such a service. president roosevelt hoped it could be made by a us company and an article in the october 30, 1902 issue of the clay records suggested that an order was actually turned down by the

taylor and knowles pottery company in east liverpool ohio, a large order of different shapes were just too much for the small plant. edith roosevelt very much wanted a design that was simple and not ornate. what was chosen was this made by wedgwood, a cream white color porcelain decorated in gold. the decoration was actually an adaptation of one of the wedgwood patterns called yolanda. described by the press as a simple colonial pattern. what made it unique to the white house was the addition of a hand-painted great seal of the united states. i thought you would enjoy seeing some other forms from the service, there is an oyster plate on the left, a demitasse cat -- cup and saucer on the right. and on the right is a teacup and saucer. there were 120 place settings

made, eight pieces per place setting. in 1910 the taft reordered more and added three new items, dessert plates and breakfast cups and saucers. in 1946 there was a gift made to the white house of this mirror. it was a gift of the dealer and appears to have come from the home of mrs. pratt, a wealthy new york collector and a member of an advisory committee to the white house, later its chairperson, for over 20 years. it was intended for the state dining room, but to be from about 1790. we now think it to be the work of the english designer and cabinetmaker thomas chippendale and probably dates a little bit earlier, more like 1770. following a renovation, the mirror hung in

the blue room for many years but was finally returned to the state dining room in 1961. it probably came to the white house collection in 1973 at the request of agnes myers who was the wife of eugene myers, the onetime publisher of the washington post. that mirror hangs today in the entrance hall. at the time of the white house renovation, during the treatment presidency, there were foreign gifts that were received for the executive mansion including one from great britain. on october 31, 1951 princess elizabeth and prince philip arrived in washington for a visit with president. and mrs. truman. here you can see president. truman picking them up at the airport. their brief visit included dinners held in their honor, a trip to mount vernon, a visit to the tomb of the unknown soldier and general sightseeing

around washington. prior to their departure on november 2, the princess presented gifts on behalf of her father king george the sixth. keep in mind that the white house was still in the midst of a major renovation so the ceremony was held in the rose garden on this makeshift platform. during her remarks the princess mentioned that the renovation of the white house had attracted interest all over the world. she added if it had been possible to preserve this beautiful building, any people in britain would have shared your disappointment, as it is we are glad to join with you in celebrating its restoration. my father who has many happy memories of his own stay in the house has wished to mark the event with a personal gift. it gave the king great pleasure when he found the over mantle which is before you now. the work of 18th-century artists and embodying the finest british craftsmanship it seems perfectly suited for the

place which it will occupy. it is his hope and mine that it will be a welcome ornament to one of your proudest national positions and that it will remain here as a mark of our friendship so long as the white house shall stand. you can see that over mantle mirror, also referred to as a -- unfortunately we don't dunno the maker and on the right is an example of the candelabra that accompanied the mirror, made of gilded bronze, marble, from about 1770 and attributed to michael golden. the mirror is now a prominent feature in the queen's bedroom, one of the principal guestrooms named for the seven queens that have stayed there including queen elizabeth ii and her mother. the candelabra can be found in

the yellow oval room, a room that is now a formal drawing room in the private family orders. in january 1958 the white house received a large collection of gilded silver, it was at the request of mrs. margaret -- who died in 1956, eris to a montana mining fortune. she was also a well-known hostess who had entertained general and mrs. dwight d eisenhower in paris when he was headed the nato forces in europe. she developed a friendship with mrs. eisenhower. mrs. biddle was a guest at the white house on several occasions and according to her daughter at a white house dinner she decided to leave her collection to the us government for use in the white house. as much of this collection of possible was exhibited in a newly created room and this is how that room appeared in 1960.

this is the room as it appears today. there are not as many pieces on view but certainly some important examples. there are over 1500 pieces in the collection, a variety of forms dating mostly to the 18th and 19th centuries, made by some of the finest english and french silversmiths. and english regency silversmith's record -- represented by several pieces, each decorated with classical roman scenes. on the left is the example of one of the wine others. today they are found on the mantels in the east room. on the right, is the soup terrine, one of a pair made in 1778 to 79 from designs by the english architect robert adams. the soup terrine's were actually made for the duke of northumberland who by the way

his son made the bequest to create the smithsonian institute. these are two of my favorite pieces. on the left is what are your and on the right is a wine your oath made by richard sibley about 1817 to 1818. they are based on a popular form made by wedgwood. in 1963 and 1964 another notable gift came to the white house. this was presented by mrs. dorothea weinman and it was of a group of english regency table silver most of which was made by the london silversmith paul store. and on the left you can see examples of the candelabra, there were two pair of heavily chased candelabra that was part of this collection. with it, the way it was

designed, each piece can be disassembled so you can have your choice of a single candlestick or if you add the three beautifully scrolled arms you can create a candelabra. the silver belonged to alexander alexander x of hamilton, it was part of an official ambassadorial service of silver. it was received from the crown when he was appointed british ambassador to russia in 1806. we think the candelabra may have been a later supplement through the ambassadorial service. the pieces that came to the white house included hundred and four dinner plates, covered meat platters, two covered chop plates, a wine cistern and two pair of candelabra. the plate on the right, if you look at the upper top edge there, you will see that it included the engraved arms of

king george the third and the duke of hamilton. at the time of the gift mrs. weinman said that the silver was being made available to the white house in order to enhance the historical furnishings and further the patriotic inspiration the people of the united states received from it. i would be remiss if i didn't include examples from the fine arts collection. in accordance with our collection policy, we collect first of all portraits of presidents and first ladies, important americans and those important to the story of the white house and there is no one more important to our country than benjamin franklin. this portrait of benjamin franklin was painted in 1767 by david martin. martin was a scotsman who studied with alan ramsey and established his studio in london around 1757. franklin was in london in 1757,

being celebrated for his publications on electricity. he returned again in 1764 and it was his testimony in the house of commons in 1766 that led to the repeal of the stamp act. at this time he is perhaps the most famous american at home and abroad. this painting was commissioned by robert alexander, from the firm of william alexander and sons in eden borough. family tradition tells us that robert had a disputed claim to property. he and the other claimant agreed to refer the matter to franklin and abide by his decision. it must have gone very well for robert which explains the commission. the document in franklin's hand is actually one of alexander's deeds, it is not a government document. the artist also included in the upper left-hand the greatest

english voice of reason to oversee -- the painting was a gift in 1962 by mr. and mrs. walter annenberg. walter annenberg was an editor and publisher and later he was appointed ambassador to great britain by president. nixon. he had a long time interest in franklin, enhanced by the fact that the statesman was an editor as well as a printer in philadelphia and that he had founded the university of pennsylvania of which mr. annenberg was a trustee. we also have a few likenesses of british subjects in our collection. this is a portrait of fanny campbell by thomas -- painted in 1834. he was born in england, his family later immigrated to the united states when he was still a boy. he later became a well-known portrait painter. francis and campbell was a

celebrated actress, a member of a theatrical family who came to united states on tour in 1832. in 1833 she performed in washington to great acclaim. in fact she was presented to president. andrew jackson at the white house. she would later describe the president as a good specimen of a fine old battered soldier. sully met her in philadelphia, introduced by pierce butler, a cousin of his. he was quite enthralled by her. in fact he did several likenesses, he painted several likenesses of her. fanny went on to marry gus butler in 1834, he came from a wealthy philadelphia family that owned plantations in georgia. there is however was not a happy marriage. she was opposed to the slavery that she witnessed on her husband's plantation and that

and other factors led her to leave him in 1846. she returned to england and later divorced in 1849. but fanny's story doesn't end there. she did return to the united states from time to time. she had lost custody of her daughter and was only able to visit them for short times each year. until they turned 21. she did return to the stage to raise money but not as an actress. instead she gave public readings. and she was a prolific writer. she published a couple of plays, a volume of her poetry, and during the civil war she was very concerned about foreign attitudes toward the confederacy. wanting to turn british opinion in favor of the union cause in 1863 she decided to publish her journal about life in georgia and all that she witnessed. it was entitled journal of a resident on a georgia

plantation. this is her portrait -- this is a portrait of president. woodrow wilson painted by the irish born artist william orphan. he was chosen by the british department of information to document the conflict. in addition to the portraits of military leaders and soldiers he also painted a grim battle scenes. because of his wartime service he was knighted in 1918. in 1919 he was commissioned to record the paris peace conference. our portrait of president. wilson seen at right was a study that he painted during that conference. he also painted studies of the other participants that included the fine ministers of italy's france and britain, george clements on david -- with these studies orphan

created the large scene at left commemorating the june 28, 1919 signing of the treaty of versailles. the painting is entitled signing of peace in the hall of mirrors, it is part of the collection of the interior war museum in london. if you look very carefully just to the left you can see a seated president wilson. our portrait is thought to have belonged to the wilsons before passing to a close friend and advisor bernard baroque. it was a gift to the white house in 1962 by his son, given in honor of his father. finally, i wanted to close with the bronze bust of winston churchill by jacob epstein dated 1946. in our collection, a gift of the wartime friends of winston churchill. epstein was born in new york city in 1880.

later he moved across the pond and became a british citizen in 1907. during the 1940s the british ministry of information commissioned him to create six likenesses of wartime leaders, the most notable being the bronze headed of winston churchill. epstein was later knighted in 1952. the following -- following churchill's death 18 donors got together to acquire this bronze for the white house collection. it's wartime friends included a former president dwight d eisenhower who has you no was supreme commander. of the allied forces in europe, general. omar bradley and all but one us ambassador to the united kingdom during the 1946 to 65. as we all heard today churchill certainly had a white house connection. as prime minister of great britain he stayed in the white house several times during world war ii.

notably after one of our darkest hours, the bombing of pearl harbor on december 7, 1941. the prime minister arrived on december 22 with -- was present for christmas and was with president. roosevelt on the south portico when the national christmas tree was lit on christmas eve. along with the president the prime minister delivered a brief message that was broadcast around the nation and through the world. nearing the end of his remarks he said let the children have their night of fun and laughter, let the gifts of father christmas delight their play. let us grown-ups share to the full in their unstated pleasures before we turn again to the stern task and formidable years that lie before us. resolved that by our sacrifice these same children shall not be robbed of their inheritance or denied their right to live in a free and decent world. thank you very much.

[ applause ] you in the american southwest that sunday night on q and a, freelance journalist tom dunkel on his washington post magazine article locked and loaded for the lord. on the sons of the late reverend. sun yung moon and their church in newfoundland pennsylvania. >> what is going on at sanctuary church in pennsylvania is a co-mingling of a lot of undercurrents in the country of religion, politics and guns. to a degree, we haven't seen before, it is been a small church, there is no question about that. sean has a worldwide following, my guess would be maybe 200 people in the congregation total up in pennsylvania. 500 to 1000 worldwide. in these days you can follow a

church on youtube, all of the sermons are webcast every week. but it is that co-mingling of passion in america and what does this say about us as a culture, and is there any precursor to what we might see, when you let the genie out of the bottle of mixing guns and religion, in almost any society it has been problematic. >> sunday night at eight eastern on c-span's q&a. tom dun on his washington post magazine article, lost and loaded for the senate comes into session monday at 3 pm eastern. senators will consider the nomination of former hawaii atty. general. mark bennett to serve on the federal appeals court based in san francisco. at 5:30 pm on monday the senate will take a procedural vote on that nomination and another procedural vote on the nominee to be the pentagon's general counsel.

when the senate is back in session on monday, life coverage on our companion net work c-span to. next on american history tv a discussion about the design history of the white house. what changes if any the future may hold. we will hear from architecture professors from the united kingdom and ireland as well as white house historians. this is from a symposium hosted by the white house historical association. focused on the history of british and irish connections with the white house. thank you all very much for sticking it out for all of this and i want you to no that this is now your chance to ask the questions of the experts. i want to say that i have no background whatsoever in history. or in scholarship, i am just a reporter. but i really have had the privilege of a front-row seat