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  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Scottish Goss (W H Goss)

    I don't recall if this has come up, but here goes!

    My little collection of Scottish porcelain (most by W H Goss, one Carlton, one Albion, two unmarked).





    For those who don't know about the Goss and the Stoke-on-Trent late 19th century/early 20th century porcelain industry, it was a time when holidays in the modern sense were becoming the norm, and "the working class" were, for the first time, travelling to holiday destination resorts.

    W H Goss (Stoke-on-Trent) got the idea of making small, portable, and inexpensive porcelain miniatures which would feature the City Crest of whatever town the pieces were sold in.

    So if you were on holiday in Brighton, you would go in the little shop and see a variety of Goss-ware bearing the Brighton crest. The shapes of the miniatures were generally Roman vases etc on display in the local museum (the source of the miniature was written on the bottom of each piece).

    Once back from holiday you would put your latest Goss pieces up on a narrow shelf running around your dining-room, or on top of a cabinet, or what have you, and Mildred, coming over for tea to welcome you home, would remark "Brighton! How lovely!" when she saw your new Brighton Goss miniature.

    My coolest Goss piece is the one bearing the arms of Lord MacDonald. Evidently this piece was sold on Skye.

    My collection has a specific focus: It's predicated on a "what if?"

    What if my 1986 honeymoon in Scotland had taken place in 1910, and I had purchased a Goss piece at each of the places we visited? The collection would look very much like this one, with Edinburgh, Glasgow, Pitlochry, Inverness, Skye, Oban, and Fort William.

    The post-WWI period saw the death-knell of the porcelain miniature industry. Today 100-year-old Goss pieces sell for a few dollars; they were mass-produced in their heyday, and have little collector value.

    Are any of you Goss collectors?
    Last edited by OC Richard; 16th August 19 at 06:04 PM.
    Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte

  2. The Following 5 Users say 'Aye' to OC Richard For This Useful Post:


  3. #2
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    Is the bagpipe piece functional or just a nicknack?

  4. #3
    Join Date
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    Just a porcelain miniature.

    Later on, when the industry was in decline, they began focusing on larger and more dramatic pieces like statues and battleships.

    Today these Goss pieces are much more valuable and sought after than the tiny vases they started out with.
    Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte

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