We are a full century and a bit on from the
Great War, and I find it remarkable that so much of the ephemera from that
conflict has survived.
Leaving aside the big stuff, like tanks,
aircraft and memorials, it is the little things like postcards, letters and
pictures along with medals which have survived in large numbers.
In the usual run of these things many would
have been lost, destroyed, or so damaged that they were eventually discarded.
Now I know these items once counted in
thousands, but the passage of over 100 years was never going to be kind to many
of them.
And of these it is the crested porcelain
figures which I would have thought were most likely to have been doomed.
Afterall they are fragile, easily chipped
or broken and so should not have survived in such great numbers.
All of which brings me to this fine
example, which I rather like.
It belongs to my old friend David Harrop
and arrived at his home today.
His crested china collection includes
everything from bull dogs, battle ships, tanks and ambulances, but this is the
first aircraft I have seen.
The porcelain companies had switched with
the outbreak of war to making themed war pieces and with an eye to sales added
the crests of towns and cities, making the pieces just hat been more attractive
and novel.
It worked up to a point but in the case of
the battle ship HMS Manchester it fell short of reality, because during the
Great War the Royal Navy had no such ship in service.
Still I doubt that commercial interests or
that of patriotism was ever going to get in the way of delivering a piece of
war porcelain which would sell we…
Picture; crested chine aircraft, circa the
Great War, courtesy of David Harrop
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