Prattware

Was produced by F. & R. Pratt & Co. Ltd who were based at the Fenton Potteries in the Staffordshire Potteries area in England. The company was formed by the two Pratt brothers, Felix and Richard in the early 19th Century.

They became well known for their multi-coloured transfer printed engravings used to decorate the lids of pots produced for food, toiletries and pharmaceutical products. The term ‘Prattware’ refers to the other good-quality domestic earthenware items that the factory produced using the underglaze transfer engravings and items included the containers themselves and tableware. They also produced domestic earthenware pots, particularly jugs with relief moulding.

Jesse Austin joined Pratt in the early 1840s as the artist in residence. He was an accomplished engraver and watercolour artist and produced their first underglaze polychrome pot lid in 1847 with the scene ‘Grace Before Meals’. Austin went on to produce over 550 polychrome prints with subjects portraying the life and times of Victorian England including royalty, famous people and city scenes including eleven views of London. Pot lids and Prattware also appeared with copies of famous paintings made by Austin from miniature watercolours he produced for the purpose.

Prattware became collectible because the engravings were so good. The first exhibition was held in 1897 just three years after Felix died. Reproduction pot lids continued to be produced under the F .& R.Pratt name by Cauldon Potteries Ltd using the original Austin engravings, and this continued under the various owners of the Pratt name until the 1960s.

In 1976 Coalport (part of the Wedgwood Group) produced a limited edition Christmas plate using a Pratt engraving as decoration and continued to produce limited edition plates using the engravings until 1979.

The polychrome pot lids are now prized collectors items, and although hundreds of thousands were made, undamaged pot lids with clear, crisp prints are hard to find, making them expensive.