A good-sized early twentieth century white enamel bread bin with original lid and wonderfully bold "Bread" typeface in dark blue. If your loaves are on the large side, this one’s for you. It’s also an excellent solution for the holding of open food bags and packets - say all those half-used sugars or spices you may have lurking.

This bin is early, has a good weight, and its lid has a circle of pierced holes, to allow for air flow, as was the way with early twentieth century bread bins. 

History of enamel in the home

Up until the mid 19^th century kitchen vessels were either ceramic or tin. Although the enamelling process had been invented hundreds of years before, it took the Industrial Revolution to drive forward the quality of vitreous enamelling and its application to everyday household objects; and by the end of the 19th Century enamelled kitchen items of all shapes and sizes had become commonplace.

Note: much "vintage enamel" popular today was, and still is, made in Poland - and some of it is not as old as it would appear.  This flour bin however, is a genuine early piece and was made in the UK.

Year of manufacture: c.1920

Origin: England 

Material: enamelware

Height: 35cm

Diameter: 30cm

Width including handles: 40cm

Condition: some nibbles to the enamel and some light rust marks where handles meet the body, but nothing untoward - see images. It looks like someone at some point in its life painted the whole bin green - yet this has been stripped off, and there are just a few tiny traces of the paint still clinging to the rim of the lid.