Rowland’s Kalydor for the Complexion advertising plaque, £2100 at Rogers Jones.
Desirability and allure is presumably why she was chosen to promote Rowland’s Kalydor for the Complexion cream.
The plaque is a rare mid-19th century item made by TJ & J Mayer of Longport, Burslem in the Potteries, a commercial rival to F&R Pratt of Fenton, the leading manufacturer of pot lids and a huge range of related ware.
The Mayer firm took part in the British exhibitions of 1851, 1853 and 1855, winning a medal at the 1851 Great Exhibition.
With impressed marks to the reverse, the 5½ x 7½in (13.5 x 19.5cm) plaque was offered in the Jewellery & Collectables auction at Cardiff saleroom Rogers Jones (20% buyer’s premium) on February 21.
The lot also included a pair of Majolica candlesticks with all-over floral decoration, cylindrical columns and stepped square bases; a slip glazed terracotta stand; and a prattware type pot lid for The Sportsman, the base for Silkashave soap.
Estimated at £60-100, the lot made £2100 from an online bidder.
In October last year at Cotswolds auction house Kinghams, a Mayer advertising plaque for Rowland’s Odonto, a tooth-whitening product, took a hammer price of £3400 (see ATG No 2565).
