According to Practical Magazine in 1873, these copies would 'exercise the happiest influence on the taste of the public and on the works of our industrial artists.' One prominent buyer of copies of the Hildesheim Treasure was the Dutch artist, Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) who not only decorated his London home with kraters and vases but also depicted them in a number of his romantic classical paintings including a study for 'The Roses of Heligoabalus' (1888) now in the Colleción Pérez Simón in Mexico. Copies were made for sale in several countries either as home furnishings or, as in the case of the V&A's electrotypes, as artists' models. The discovery of the Hildesheim Treasure attracted huge international press coverage.

The V&A's collection during the 19th century was built on a mixture of original works and copies so that the museum could provide artists and designers with an encyclopedic collection of international ornament. Electrotypes provided the same function as the Museum's collection of plaster casts and photographs. This collection enabled artists, designers and students to look closely at both modern and historic objects that were otherwise inaccessible. The Museum bought electrotypes as part of its growing collection of reproductions. It is a copy of a Roman original that was discovered by soldiers among other ancient treasures near the German town of Hildesheim in 1868, and is now in the Altes Museum, Berlin.

Elkington had bought the reproduction krater from Christofle & Cie of Paris. This electrotype copy of a wine container was bought by the Museum in 1874 from Elkington and Co.

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