Lancaster & Sandland England 6 Inch Round Trivet Ye Olden Days

For consideration is vintage porcelain round trivet made by Lancaster & Sandland in England. This is part of the range of pottery which Lancaster & Sandland produced starting in the early 1940s. The center of the trivet has a village scene with people and a horse and carriage done is done in mostly in brown and orange and green on a cream background. The trivet is titled “Ye Olden Days” and the top rim and base are edged in gold. A trivet is a small plate placed under a hot serving dish (I’m imagining a teapot), to protect a table or surface.

This trivet measures just under ½ inch tall and 6 inches in diameter. The base is stamped in green ink “A English Ware Lancasters Ltd Hanley England”. This “Lancaster Ltd.” mark was used from 1938 until 1944 at which time they became Lancaster & Sandland. The letter 'A' indicates that this ware was made under the provisions of the Wartime Concentration Scheme (see note below). The trivet is in excellent vintage condition with no nicks, chips, cracks, repairs, scratches, or crazing noted. There is some gold loss to the top edge gold ring. Buyer will pay shipping on a 2 pound box. Thank you for looking!

NOTE:  The Wartime Concentration Scheme and The "A.B.C." Pottery Firms

The Second World War was a difficult period for the British pottery industry. Severe restrictions were placed on the production of decorated pottery. Decorated pottery required a lot of man-hours and energy costs for extra firing in the kilns. But some production would continue for sale abroad in order to earn foreign currency.

In 1941, British pottery production was subject to a Concentration Scheme whereby individual firms were classified as: nucleus, concentrated or closed-down. In 1942, maximum retail prices were set and letters such as A, B or C incorporated in the backstamp. Some restrictions were relaxed in 1945 and subsequent years but they were not fully lifted until August 1952.