Ceramic Pot Lids

Ceramic Pot Lids were mainly produced during the mid Victorian Era (c.1840), tapering off in the following Edwardian Era (c.1901-10) as product packaging evolved and improved. Small ceramic jars with decorative lids were manufactured and distributed by many merchants and contained a variety of goods. Often the lid would display the merchant name, the product type and directions for use and would include a decorative design to appeal to the consumer.

The Victorian consumer was interested in the finer foods such as anchovy paste and shrimp — these lids would have nautical imagery or scenes from the shore displayed. Also available in ceramic jars were a wide variety of health and beauty items such as toothpaste and cold crémes. These jars would be decorated to show the product’s flavor or to appeal to a person’s vanity.

Ceramic pots often found a second life, when they were emptied they were then reused to store household items such as pins or buttons. Some pots were even kept for their ornamental value and found home amongst the popular decorative clutter in many Victorian homes. Still other pots found their way into landfills and today, the collector-digger will conduct careful research to locate Victorian and Edwardian era dumps, or “tips,” and carefully sift through to find these small and highly collectible decorated lids.