1959 Limoges Porcelain Bowl ~ Besserat & Bellefon Champagne
From Alexis Lichine to Dottie & Bob Schulz (Aide to Dwight Eisenhower)
Item: Porcelain bowl produced for Champagne Besserat de Bellefon Aÿ 1er Cru.
Mark: "GDA Limoges France".
Inscription: "A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year To Dottie and Bob Schulz from Alexis Lichine Xmas 1959".
Size: Measures 4 3/4" by 4 3/4". The dish stands approximately 2" tall.
Condition: No apparent flaws. No cracks, no chips, no restorations. Minimal wear and the colors remain bright and true.
History: These come to us by way of Robert Schulz' family. They were carefully displayed over the years.
The bowl is inscribed to Dottie & Bob Schulz. Robert L. Schulz and his wife Dorothy. Schulz was a consultant to the War Department eventually serving in the Army in the office of the Chief of Transportation. In 1947 he was appointed Aide-de-Camp to Chief of Staff, General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower. After the war he continued to be an aide to Eisenhower when he became the president of Columbia University. When Eisenhower was elected President, Schulz became Military Aide to the President of the United States and subsequently Executive Aide and Assistant to former President Eisenhower. Bob and Dottie Schulz remained lifelong friends with President Eisenhower.
The bowl is inscribed from Alexis Lichine. Lichine was a famous wine seller, writer and entrepreneur, eventually referred to as The Pope of Wine. Lichine was born in Moscow and fled the Russian Revolution in 1917 at the age of 4 moving to France with his family. Eventually he moved to the United States and studied at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1935 he worked for the Cork and Bottle retail store in New York and became a United States citizen. He served in the American armed forces during the war where he became the aide-de-camp to the then General, and future President, Dwight D Eisenhower, who appreciated his extensive knowledge of wine. At this time Lichine and Schulz became acquainted and lifelong friends. He was a successful New York-based wine salesman with a luxury apartment in Manhattan, a self-proclaimed “merchant of pleasure”. He published his first book, The Wines of France, when he was thirty-seven. Lichine purchased Château Prieuré-Cantenac, 15 miles from Bordeaux, France. It was promptly renamed Château Prieuré-Lichine and renovated. He also had a controlling share of Château Lascombes. He founded a shipping company in France, Alexis Lichine et Cie. Decanter wine magazine voted him “1987 Man of the Year”. (Biography excerpted from Ivy Provisions article of 2018)
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BJL - 103119 BOX 36