These jars, from the collection of John Foumakis, were made in England, probably by the firm of Thomas, John and Joshua Mayer, one of the Staffordshire Potteries. The technique they use to transfer color images to pottery was developed by Felix Pratt and Jessie Austin in the 1840s. It's likely that these four were all made in 1853, to commemorate Stowe's well-publicized visit to Great Britain. Typically this kind of container was used to sell products like anchovy paste or snuff, then retained by the consumer for decorative purposes. By clicking on the icons at left, you can enlarge any of the images. The English engravers' designs seem closely based on the Hammat Billings's drawings in the Illustrated Edition that Jewett published at the end of 1852. (See the ILLUSTRATIONS section of the archive.)