Goss china ware with Exeter symbols

William Henry Goss started working in the Staffordshire china industry, making china busts of famous people from his Falcon Works factory in the second half of the nineteenth century. Goss had a keen interest in heraldry, and so began making souvenirs for universities and old public schools, probably bought by proud parents. In 1830, his son Adolphus saw the potential in commemorative souvenir objects with coats of arms, mottoes and ensigns. In the age of tourism, by 1917, the Falcon Works were producing wares for 1376 towns, villages or sites in Britain and 188 abroad, such as china pyramids with the arms of Cairo engraved on the front.

These jars with the crest of Exeter city (a golden castle on a red and black background) were made in the style of Roman pots, as a souvenir of the city’s Roman origins, between 1910 and 1925. The cup on the right shows the badge of Exeter, with the cap of maintenance.

Publication: Hume, I.N. 2001, 'If These Pots Could '. Chipstone Foundation.

Acknowledgments: RAM Museum