Stead & Simpson For Reliable Boots - Enamel Sign

Stock No

1385

Member since
2016

£230.00

€269 Euro
$286 US Dollar

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Item Description

In 1834 Mr Edmund Stead and Mr Edward Simpson set up business in Leeds as leather merchants and curriers. They were an ambitious and hardworking pair and by 1860 had expanded into manufacturing, producing boots and shoes that were sold to shopkeepers and dealers. They quickly opened a new factory employing over 500 workers where the newly invented sewing machine was put to good use. This charming enamel sign for the pair's 'reliable boots' is likely to date to the 1920s and features the late-Victorian feeling typography and detailing that carried on into the early 20th century and which you would expect and hope for in a piece of early enamel advertising. This example has a vibrant blue and white colourway - a personal favourite. After a century, there are definite signs of wear - the outer edges have heavy enamel loss / corrosion and the blue enamel layer has lost it's gloss and mottled and there are surface scratches and a few smaller patches of enamel loss scattered across the surface of the sign. In my opinion this wear add's to the character of the piece without impacting it's legibility. The piece still sits straight and displays well. The sign measures 61cm wide x 30.5cm high.

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