Page 6 - February 17 & 18 2024

384. PRATT SOYERS RELISH SAUCE BOTTLE. 8ins tall, tricorn form. Three different panel images: Alexis Soyer, the Poultry Woman (M38), the Fishbarrow (M65). A rare Pratt
style offering depicting the famous Victorian chef (purchase of this
lot comes with a free
hardback copy of
the book - Soyer, The
Extraordinary lLfe of Alexis
Soyer Victorian Celebrity
Chef by Ruth Cowen).
A reported exceptional
Simon Bennett lip nibble
restoration. A very rare
offering. 8.8/10. NR.
£600-800+
The French chef, writer and inventor Alexis Soyer (1810- 1858) was the Jamie Oliver of his day. Both a celebrity chef, based at the Reform Club in London, and a social campaigner. A pioneer of the soup kitchen he personally intervened in both the Irish Famine in 1847 and the Crimean Peninsula during the harsh winter of 1854 to help feed the poor and the starving troops. Like modern
celebrity cooks he also promoted his own brand products. This F. & R. Pratt & Co. tricorn bottle has two pot lid designs, The Fish Market and The Poultry Woman, pointing to a sauce which could be used with both meat and fish. The third side features a portrait engraving of Soyer taken from a painting
by Soyer’s wife Emma (now in the National Portrait Gallery), below is SOYERS RELISH. A lithograph from this made by H B
Hall appears as the front piece of Soyer’s The Gastronomic Regenerator cookbook published in 1846, and his
Pantropheon of 1852, London: Simpkin and Marshall, 1852.
Soyer produced several sauces including Sultana Sauce (marketed in
hourglass shaped amber bottles - super rare) and Kalos Geusis in blue glass. In 1849 Soyer’s New Sauce for Ladies and Gentleman
was advertised by Crosse & Blackwell priced 2s 6d. but adverts specifically titled Soyer’s Relish appeared in 1851 stating it was
“rich, savoury, exotic”, manufactured by Soyer but
available wholesale from Crosse & Blackwell.
Soyer apparently sold the recipe to C & B in 1850 and it was on sale
at least until 1873. These particularly ornate, and rare,
bottles, giving an upmarket feel, are likely c.1850.
385. ENGLANDS PRIDE PRATT POT LID.
387. BEARS AT SCHOOL PRATT POT LID.
(KM p91, 164c) 4ins diam. Commemorates the Reign of Queen Victoria here Depicted in her Youth. C. mid 1840s to 1860s. Body crazing, flange nicks. 8/10 NR. £60-£80+
(KM p36, 9) 3.75ins diam including frame. A characterful Prattware pot lid depicting a
386. BEAR PIT PRATT POT LID. (KM p35, 6a) 2.9ins diam. Pratt lid featuring a bear up a pole in a zoo this the one with dome. Body crazing with nick to flange at 4-o-’clock. 7.5/10 NR. £40- £60+
somewhat harsh teaching lesson at school and featuring young bears as in the title. Clean
example, dot border. 9/10 NR. £40-£60+