Wooden Framed Pratt Ware Lid Entitled "A Letter From The Diggings"

19th Century Prattware wooden framed Pot Lid entitled "A Letter From The Diggings". This lid was produced by the Pratt Factory in the early 1850's at the time of the Australian Gold Rush but is believed to originate from a known watercolour entitled "Valentines Day". It is signed J.Austinis. It was Felix Edward Pratt (1813-94) who spotted the commercial possibilities of using new printing technology to decorate the lids of containers for popular products such as bear's grease, gentleman's relish, potted shrimps and cosmetics, with sophisticated designs. After 1840, F. & R. Pratt of Fenton in Staffordshire, became the leading (but not the only) manufacturer of multicoloured transfer printed pot lids and a huge range of related wares. Long admired for their technical excellence, for their sheer variety and as a social and historical record of their era, pot lids have a venerable collecting history and rank among the most desirable everyday items from the Victorian period.