Staffordshire Battersea Enamel Box c 1810

A small Staffordshire Battersea Enameled Box, c. 1810. Black transfer lettering on white lid reads ‘May Trade increase and bless our Isle And Commerce make This Land  in smile’ with a bellflower border (you’ve got to wonder, if this originally was a gift for someone’s ‘sweetie’ – as most of these were -- what must have been going through her head when she read this wonderfully ‘romantic’ sentiment!). Pink base and there is a mirror on the underside of the lid. The box measures 1 3/4” x 1 1/2” and is approximately 1” high. Good, as found condition, which is to say that, like most of these enamel boxes, it is not perfect!  There are some lines in the lid an a ¼” area of enamel loss near the hinge, lines on the side and bottom, most thin faint, and some enamel chipping on the bottom edge and on the underside. The lid closes snugly, and amazingly the mirror on the underside of the lid is complete and not cracked, with just some minor loss of silvering (the vertical line is not a crack, but silvering loss). Guaranteed to be an early 19^th Century example of a Battersea box. Buyer prepays, and Postage is included in the final price for US buyers; international customers will pay approximately 50% of the international shipping charges.