W. H. Goss (England) ceramics

William Henry Goss (1833-1906) through his pottery company W. H. Goss of Stoke-on-Trent made a substantial contribution to souvenir and commemorative ware. The company made articles of very thin moulded porcelain, which was particularly translucent.

They made ornaments rather than functional items, and in the earlier years of the business, from about 1860 to about 1890, they produced fine, beautifully coloured ware, including vases, jewellery, and dressing-table articles.

Then, not long after Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee of 1887, they branched out into much cheaper souvenir ware, much of it in the form of statuary. These articles were shaped like Cleopatra's Needle, Marble Arch, Nelson's Column, or more mundane things, such as wheelbarrows, cottages, and animals, and decorated with the heraldic crests (termed "crested china") of various towns or resorts.

They were produced in huge numbers, and thus do not command high prices in more... the marketplace.

The company was taken over by Cauldon Potteries Ltd. in 1929 and then by Doulton in the 1980s less...