Spratt's "Ovals" - the pocket dog biscuit... James Spratt was an American entrepreneur and his company Spratt's was the first 'large-scale manufacturer of dog biscuits'. The striking red and white colour combo and truly fantastic shading / drop shadows make Spratt's enamel advertising a firm favourite of mine, but this is a variant I've not encountered before... 

 

The production number in the lower right corner dates this sign to October 1912, Spratt's produced their own signage and this is marked as such in the lower left. Whether they did the enamelling in house or had a dedicated firm I'm not sure, but what I've got no doubts about is that whoever the manufacturer was, they were very, very good. A century later and this sign is still wonderfully vibrant and the gloss is just perfection; beautifully deep and rippling with the imperfections you'd hope to find with the early, handmade signage. It also sits perfectly flat, none of the common curvature / flexing / bending so it displays very nicely and can still be hung using the orignal mounting holes. 

 

Given it's age, the sign has to be considered to be in very good condition. There's a little, light surface scratching - only really noticable under a raking light and there's a little nibbling around the otuer edges and some light rust staining leaching through, visible on the white lettering but these are the characteristics you have to expect, even hope, to find on an original piece of vintage / antique advertising. 

 

The sign measures 75cm wide x 56cm high. 

 

S/N: #1429