Picture Gallery
For the first 20 to 30 years after it was founded in
1858, the pottery firm of W.H. Goss concentrated on producing a range
of parian ware and various ornamental items. |
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The parian ware included a large range of busts of people
of topical or historical interest at the time (royalty, politicians,
writers, etc.) as well as classical and other statues and
figures. |
Ornamental items included vases, floral jewellery and
trinket boxes, sea shells, and decorative plates and
plaques. |
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The heraldic china, for which the firm is now best known
and to which it has generally lent its name, was first introduced at
the instigation of Adolphus Goss in the 1880's. He had the idea of
introducing a range of miniature porcelain models of historical
artefacts from around Britain and selling them through various local
agents around the country, decorated with coats of arms of interest
locally. These generally included the arms of the town or city in
which the agent was situated, as well as the arms of surrounding towns
or villages for which no agent had been appointed, but could also include
the local county arms, arms of local institutions (universities, schools,
abbeys, ecclesiastical sees, etc.), and arms of famous local
people. |
By the turn of the (last) century there were around 500
agents spread throughout Britain and around 100 different models
available. And these figures continued to increase rapidly over the
next twenty years or so, with both the agents and models being no
longer confined to Britain: the first overseas agent was appointed (in
Bermuda) shortly after 1900 and the first overseas models were
introduced around 1905. |
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It became increasingly difficult for collectors
to keep abreast of all the models and arms that were available and
where they could be obtained. So one keen collector, Mr. J.J. (Joseph
John) Jarvis, set about compiling a list of agents and the arms they
stocked. He also compiled a list of all the currently available
models, annotated in some cases with descriptive notes and indicating
where appropriate the particular agent with which the model was
specifically associated, important information for many collectors,
including Jarvis himself, who wished to collect models bearing their
`correct' or `matching' arms, that is the arms of the city or town (or
in some cases person) with which the model was especially
associated. |
Jarvis' lists were first published in 1900, by Jarvis
himself, under the title `The Goss Record' and between 1900 and 1921
appeared in 9 editions (plus a few intermediate supplements), the last
edition listing around 1500 agents and around 400 models. Jarvis also
founded a collectors' club, which was initially called `The
League of Goss Collectors' but later changed to `The International League
of Goss Collectors' as its scope and that of the factory increased, and
he arranged with the factory for the production of a small range of special
models which were exclusively available to members of the club. Each of
these "league" models bore arms which were specially designed for
the club, there being two versions of these arms corresponding to the two
different names of the club, though the arms of `The League of Goss
Collectors' were phased out in favour of the international version in
around 1919 and thus are found only on the earlier league models.
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The range of models also included buildings, lighthouses,
fonts, and crosses. A few models of coloured buildings were in fact
introduced when the factory first began to cater for the holiday
souvenir market. These included Shakespeare's House, Anne
Hathaway's Cottage, and Robert Burns Cottage. Eventually this range
expanded to around 40 different buildings. |
A range of animals on plinths was produced, primarily it
is believed for sale at the British Empire Exhibitions held at Wembley
in 1924 and 1925, though a few, including the Cheshire Cat and the
Shetland Pony, were produced a little earlier. A coloured version of
one of the animals, the Tiger, is also known. In the main these
animals are very rare. |
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The crosses and fonts are also mostly very rare, with a
few exceptions, despite the fact that both ranges enjoyed long
production lives. Crosses are generally found unglazed and coloured
brown or white, though the white versions can also be found glazed in
some cases. Only the white Richmond Market Place Cross normally
carries a coat of arms, though some of the other models can be found
bearing the arms of Blackpool. In total, 14 crosses were modelled,
some of which can be found in 2 different sizes. |
Fonts can be found in the same range of finishes as the
crosses, though in this case many of the white glazed versions do
usually carry a coat of arms. With the exception of the Winchester
Cathedral Font which can be found in 2 sizes (and also in black
instead of brown), there are no variations in size among the 12
different models, but the St. Martin's Font, Canterbury can be found
in three variant shapes -- with a lid, with a bowl, and
open. |
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The range of different types of decorations is also
large, and in addition to the well-known coats of arms includes flags,
pictorial views, flora and fauna, and commemorative designs. |
Transfer printed pictorial views were produced for many
years and a huge variety of different designs exists. These are mostly
views of locations in the British Isles, but a small range of views of
overseas locations were also produced. Most of these decorations are
quite rare, the overseas ones being especially so. |
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A range of decorations for children's domestic ware was
also produced during the early 1920's based on designs made by
Margaret Goss (granddaughter of William Henry). These can be
identified by the initials M.G. accompanied by the year and are quite
rare. |
Towards the end of the factory's lifetime, a range of
other domestic ware was also produced, including some in the shape of
coloured cottages and some decorated with cottage scenes. These are
generally marked "Goss Cottage Pottery". Items produced after the Goss
family sold the company in 1929 are generally marked "Goss England"
(with the notable exception of the last few league models). These
include heraldic wares but with the emphasis on items such as comical
animals and figures which had been produced in a wide range by other
factories for a number of years and which had proved so popular with
their customers. |
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