J. Lyons & Co. were best known for their chain of tea shops which opened from 1894 and finally closed in 1981, and for the Lyons Corner Houses in the West End of London. From the 1930s Lyons began to develop a pioneering range of teas, coffees, cocoas, biscuits and cakes that were sold in grocery stores across the world.

 

Here we have a pot-bellied (convex) "Lyons' Tea Sold Here" enamel sign in the company's iconic blue and orange colour-way. This is a nice, early sign - likely to date to the 1920s/'30s. Signs in this form are fairly scarce and this is an excellent example of it's type. With the middle of the sign pushed forward, examples often have heavy damage along the face, but this example is brilliantly clean with vibrant colours and a good surface gloss. There's a little bit of enamel loss around the mounting holes (fairly inevitable) and the upper middle mounting hole has opened up but really, this is as good as you could expect to find. 

 

It measures 75cm wide x 50cm high and can be hung using the remaining mounting holes. 

 

S/N: #1526