Pot lids are the covers of small ceramic containers used to hold a variety of manufactured products marketed to the public predominantly between 1840 and 1910. The contents of each container were descriptively advertised on the lids through a decorative process known as transfer-printing. Although the date of the first transfer-printed pot lid is unknown, this iconic English process originated in Liverpool during the second half of the 18th century. By the mid 19th century, transfer-printing was being utilized for advertisement and in the 1860s, pot lids with black printing on white ground were introduced. 

Prior to the invention of the transfer-printing process, brand names were lettered directly onto the pottery or using a paper label secured to the lid. The transfer-printing process was quicker, more economical, and made room for more elaborate designs and descriptions of the container’s contents. By World War 1, transfer-printing had been virtually eliminated by cheaper methods of manufacturing.

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