Description:
English delft, bowl-shaped ointment pot inscribed "Scarlett Perfumers" in blue on the outside, which has an everted rim and flared, flat foot. Houghton and Priestley note in their "Historical Guide to Delftware and Victorian Ointment Pots" that James Scarlett is recorded in Kent's "Directory of London & Westminster 1794" as "Scarlett J., Perfumer, 8 Gray's-inn-passage, Redlion-Str., Holb" and that this entry is repeated in the "Post Office Annual Directory 1808," which is the same year his will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. The business was continued by William Scarlett, who is recorded in the "Post Office Annual Directory 1810" listed under "Perfumers, & c." as "Scarlett Wm. 32 Redlion-st, Holbrn"; in "Holden's Directory" of 1811 as a "jewellery and perfumery warehouse" at the same address; and in Pigot & Co.'s "Directory of London 1825" although the business is not recorded in the Post Office Directory (London) 1839 or any later directories. Houghton and Priestley illustrate a pot similarly shaped to HD's pot, also inscribed "Scarlett Perfumer," which was found with a sealed wine bottle dated 1797. Ointment pots, which varied in size and shape, dispensed sticky or semi-liquid preparations sold by apothecaries, grocers, perfumers, etc., who often had their names and sometimes addresses inscribed on them when they ordered them in quantity from delftware factories. These pots are normally bowl-shaped with an everted rim, which could be covered with parchment secured with a string tied around the indentation below the rim. Around 1800, these delft pots were replaced with glass containers, cardboard-lined boxes, and chip boxes made of handcut wood shavings.
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