Beechwood - Devonshire Food Products, Enamel Sign

This early 20th century (1920s) large enamel sign for 'Beechwood - Devonshire Food Products' is about as good as they get. An iconic blue and white colourway is combined with wonderfully fine shading to the lettering all of which has survived the decades beautifully, remaining bright and vibrant with a brilliantly deep surface gloss. Beechwood produced Devonshire bacons and hams - there's not a lot of information available for the company but there is record of them taking over a factory in Plymouth in 1921 - this sign was probably produced around the same time. It was manufactured by the Patent Enamel Co. of Birmingham - one of the earliest manufacturers of enamel signage and, as is evidenced here, one of the best. The enamel layers are wonderfully thick with the deep, cobalt blue sitting on top of the white. The lettering retains a crisp edge - particularly notable on the Beechwood monogram in the upper right. The main 'Beechwood' lettering has a wonderful, subtle shading giving the text a 3D appearance. The sign has survived the decades incredibly well - it's early and it's large so the odds were against it, but despite this there are only a few patches of enamel loss scattered around the outer edges and just one small patch of loss in the main area of the sign. There are a few light surface scratches, but as can be seen from the angled photos the sign is generally very clean with a good, even gloss. It can be hung using it's original mounting holes and displays very well. The sign measures 1.22cm wide x 61cm high. A fantastic piece of kitchen decor or a worthy addition to any enamel collection.