Wooden Framed Pratt Ware Lid Entitled "Dr Johnson

Offered for sale is a Mid 19th Century wooden framed Pratt Ware pot lid. It is decorated with a scene entitled A delightful Victorian Prattware earthenware pot lid, transfer printed with a painting entitled Dr. Johnson. It is taken from the painting, Doctor Johnson Ante Room of Lord Chesterfield by Em Ward 1748. Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote the first English language dictionary which was published in 1755. 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. The pot lid has been framed in a circular wooden frame. There is a hanging loop in the top rim.