William Henry Goss: The Inventor of Goss Porcelain - Hardcover

Pine, Lynda; Pine, Nicholas

9780903852753: William Henry Goss: The Inventor of Goss Porcelain

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0903852756 ISBN 13: 9780903852753

Publisher: Milestone Publications, 1986

Goss china collecting became a craze in Victorian and Edwardian times when, with the advent of the railways, charabancs and public holidays, a demand for inexpensive souvenirs developed, first in resorts then spreading rapidly across the country and eventually overseas to more than 40 countries. William Henry Goss and his eldest son Adolphus met this demand with a range of small white porcelain models of historic shapes decorated with coats of arms. These immediately caught on and by 1910 the craze was at its height. Indeed, it is thought that during Edwardian times, some 90% of homes contained Goss china, a higher incidence than television sets or telephones enjoy today. The hobby reached a peak around 1914, but trade declined after the Great War and by 1940 production had ceased altogether. The nation then spent the next thirty years throwing Goss china away before it regained respectability and began to be collected again in the 1970s. In this first ever biography of the man who is credited with inventing heraldic porcelain and his family who worked with him and at times against him, the authors tell the story of Goss china in detail. From a promising start as a literary student, William Henry Goss used the important contacts he made in London to carve himself a career in the pottery industry in Stoke-on-Trent. At first, he produced a limited, expensive range of parian busts and figurines, but with the entry of his sons Adolphus and later Victor and Huntley into the business, production switched to the small white models bearing colourful coats of arms for which the firm became famous. The authors recount the stories of Godfrey, who ran away to New Jersey with a factory paintress, began a pottery there and founded the American branch of the family; the surprising Falkland Islands connection, still continued today; why William refused to speak to his wife for the last twenty years of his life and how he came to have four homes all at the same time. The history of the three periods of production is complemented by chapters on how the porcelain was both manufactured and sold through agencies in virtually every town in the country. The book is illustrated with over 300 photographs and maps, includes much material not previously published and comprehensive family trees.

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From the Publisher:

The story of the Staffordshire family of potters
who were the inventors of heraldic porcelain. Leading authorities,Lynda and Nicholas Pine have researched the fascinating story of this eccentric family which is told in this large format hardback. Illustrated with 300 photographs

From the Author:

A biography of the Goss family and factory
William Henry Goss invented heraldic porcelain in mid Victorian times. This biography tells the story of the Goss family and factory with many illustrations.

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