Images(2)

Cosmetic-Pot

Date1800-1900

Where associated

MediumStoneware

ClassificationsContainer

Terms

Object numberTN08641

DescriptionBear's Grease pommade cosmetic jar lid. Circular in shape, with a white background and black lettering reading: "Bayley's Real Bear's Grease. For promoting the growth of hair. Sold by H. Bailey. Hairdresser and perfumer. Walworth Road. Corner of Hampton Sreet." Decorated with a picture of a bear and trees.

An extract from the book, London and Londoners in the Eighteen-Fifties and Sixties, by Alfred Rosling Bennett, 1924 , pages 100 to 101, describes the practice of hiring a live bear to claim that it would shortly be killed to provide fresh grease for the customers. The story mentions a barber's shop on the Walworth Road, perhaps the same barber that sold this pot now in the Cuming collection.

On View

Not on view

Collections