In 1846, the Society of Arts, responding to the advice and enthusiasm of its president, Prince Albert, established a prize fund which awarded medals to manufacturers who successfully produced wares of elegant form .... suited to the use of everyday life. Henry Cole designed a tea-service under the pseudonym, Felix Summerly, which he entered in the first competition and for which he won a prize. In 1847, he established 'Felix Summerly's Art Manufactures', to encourage the application of artistic skills to the industrial manufacturing process.

Cf. Paul Atterbury and Maureen Batkin (Eds.), op. cit., p. 260 for a selection of wares from this service, including a jug of this shape