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Pickard China makes table service items for White House

When world leaders attend state dinners at the White House, they are dining on dinnerware made in an unassuming building in the back streets of Antioch.

Willard Pickard established Pickard China in Edgerton, Wis., in 1893. The company originally specialized in hand-painted art pieces and tea sets, using artists from the Art Institute of Chicago and Europe.

Pickard China moved to Chicago and then to Antioch in 1930, where it makes world-renowned fine china.

“We are proud to be a fourth generation, family-owned business,” said President Andrew Pickard Morgan.

“We are 100 percent U.S. made and manufactured out of our factory in Antioch.”

The U.S. Department of State selected Pickard in 1977 to be the official china service used by the White House, Congress and embassies around the world.

“We made a tea set for Mrs. Obama that she gave as an official gift for the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh a few years back,” Morgan said.

  Lining department manager Marge Jones works on the detailing of a service piece of china for the U.S. State Department. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com
  Caster Jeff Wiegel checks the plaster mold while core casting. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com
  Jerald Konkel works with the automatic glazing machine, applying glaze on small plates. At left is a holiday place setting produced at Pickard China. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com
  A holiday place setting at Pickard China in Antioch. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com
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