Jim Bean - lithograph limited edition by James Lockhart. Platter with frame.

Platter with frame for hanging. It was made by the Regal china company in the USA for the Jim Beam distilling company in 1970. Duck motif. Frame is plastic. Easy to hang. Approximately 20 by 16 inches. Have not seen one of these with a frame before. These were gifts for Jim Bean employees. Cottage core, eclectic home, farmhouse, magnolia, vintage home. James Leland Lockhart was one of America’s foremost nature and wildlife artists and a notable illustrator during the second half of the twentieth century. His paintings are in many museums, including the Smithsonian Institution. In 1970, Lockhart was offered two opportunities to produce his art on porcelain china, a medium he had little experience using. The first project came from Pickard China, America’s oldest fine-china company, which envisioned a limited edition series that utilized Lockhart’s wild-bird paintings. President Gerald Ford displayed in the Oval Office Lockhart’s American Bald Eagle from the 1974 addition to Pickard’s Wildlife Series. The second undertaking came when the Jim Beam Company, in collaboration with Regal China Company, wanted to produce two platters made with Lockhart’s art to give as holiday gifts. Two of Lockhart’s designs, the Woodcock and Wood Duck, were shown on the platters, later labeled the “Best Executive Gift of the Year” by Fortune magazine. Between 1970 and 1998, the Jim Beam Company also created and sold limited-edition decanters that featured Lockhart’s paintings.