A JOHN F. KENNEDY HONEY-FITZ YACHT LUNCHEON PLATE. A Shenango porcelain plate with gilt decorate...

A JOHN F. KENNEDY HONEY-FITZ YACHT LUNCHEON PLATE. A Shenango porcelain plate with gilt decorated rim and interior rim and presidential eagle with two stars to border. With green printed factory mark. Dia: 9 in (23 cm) Provenance: Butterfield & Butterfield Fine American Furniture & Decorative Arts, San Francisco, November 4, 1992, lot 70. JFK's Presidential Yacht, the Honey-Fitz, named for his grandfather, started life as the Lenore in 1931 at the Defoe Boat Works in Bay City, MI. She belonged to businessman Sewell Avery before being requisitioned (some say seized) in 1942 for use in the war effort. She began a tender for the vessels both FDR and Truman used as Presidential yachts. Eisenhower thought Truman's craft was too grand, and so spent $200,000 to upgrade the Lenore, renaming her Barbara Anne after one of his granddaughters. The Eisenhowers rarely used the yacht, however, and it wasn't until JFK embraced her and rechristened her the Honey-Fitz that the yacht enjoyed its superstar status. The Honey-Fitz remained a presidential yacht until the Nixon administration, when she was sold to a private owner. The present luncheon plate, with its simple elegant design, was in use aboard the yacht during the Kennedy years. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing