The business was established by Elijah Cotton in Hanley in 1880. By 1885 he had outgrown the premises and built The Nelson Works alongside the Caldon canal. Although the business always remained in the Cotton family, its last known date of registration was in 1962.
The item is a matching set which consists of the fine porcelain cake platter as well as the cake lifter. The plate has been decorated in one of Elijah Cotton’s ‘LNE” patterns which always had a gold floral filigree rim and a floral centre. The flowers would either be red or yellow roses or red or yellow wild roses. This particular plate is decorated with the yellow wild roses which an internet search will reveal is not as encountered as the red or yellow rose version. The red wild rose version in considered the rarest of the “LNE” patterns.
The cake platter is stamped underneath Elijah Cotton Ltd Staffordshire England around Lord Nelson Ware with gold number 3155. The cake lifter is stamped Made in England.
The cake plate and lifter have age related crazing, aside from which the two items are in very good vintage condition.
Cake platter height: 1 cm, Diameter of base: 22.4 cm, Rim: 28 cm x 28 cm
Cake lifter height of handle: 3.4 cm, Length: 24.5 cm, Width of blade: 7.5 cm, Width of handle: 2.5 cm
