Extremely RARE, one-of-a-kind, and quite possibly on the last surviving pieces of early Secretary of the Navy Official Naval China Messware. This fish server is not a commemorative or presentation piece but an actual part of The Secretary of the Navy's Official US Navy Dinnerware that was certainly used on formal occasions, and possibly even intended to be used as his everyday china as well.
Large Fish Server or Platter (22"x10") from the Official Regulation US Navy-issued Mess of the Secretary of the Navy and Manufactured ca 1903-1911 by Maddox Lamberton China Co, Trenton, NJ. Note the Secretary's Official Flat of a Centered Fouled Anchor with 4 Stars in Each Corner. This Flag was Established by Congress and the US Navy in 1867 and is Still in Use Today. This Particular Pattern was Manufactured by at Least Two China Producers, (Maddock Lamberton in the US and Theodore Haviland, Limoges, France) which validates this as being an official US Navy regulation pattern.
The Union Jack being shown has 45 Stars and was only used from 1896 thru 1907. Each star in the Union Jack represents a state within our Union. In 1896 Utah was added as the 45th state in the Union and an additional star was then added to both the National Flag and the Naval Union Jack for a total of 45 stars. This number of states and stars remained the same for 12 years until in 1907 Oklahoma joined the Union as the 46th state, Click Here to Review List of States as Entered by Date into the Union).
Based upon the manufacturer's backstamp this Fish Server was produced between the 1890's and 1911 by the Maddock Lamberton China Company. The fish server has an imprinted manufacturers backstamp located on the bottom of the piece with a capital "M" above the word "CHINA" that is above a capital "L". This was the backstamp used by the Maddock Lamberton China Company ca 1890's-1911! This backstamp has been date documented and can be seen in Barbara Conway's authoritive "Restaurant China Identification Guide, Volume 2".
The Navy Secretary's which held office between the periods 1896 thru 1910 which certainly used this fish platter were:
Hilary A. Herbert, March 7, 1893 - March 6, 1897
John D. Long, March 6, 1897 - April 30, 1902
William H. Moody, May 1, 1902 - June 30, 1904
Paul Morton, July 1, 1904 - June 30, 1905
Charles J. Bonaparte, July 1, 1905 - December 16, 1906
Victor H. Metcalf, December 17, 1906 - November 30, 1908
Truman H. Newberry, December 1, 1908 - March 5, 1909
George von L. Meyer, March 6, 1909 - March 4, 1913
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