A Copeland porcelain Trusty Servant 'moustache cup' published by William Savage, circa 1875
depicting The Trusty Servant within a roundel, surrounded by a series of lozenges containing flowering plants, the reverse with a cartouche containing the complete Trusty Servant poem.
9.7 cm. diameter.
Marked to the base:
A PIECE
OF ANTIQUITY
PAINTED ON THE
WALL ADJOINING
TO THE KITCHEN
OF WINCHESTER
COLLEGE
PUB BY
WM. SAVAGE WINCHESTER
and the blue Copeland mark for the years c. 1851 - 85.
Condition: Excellent. Some minor scratches.
For a Gordon tray of a similar type in green see Vega Wilkinson, Copeland, 2000, p. 17.
William Savage (1817 - 1887) first opened a shop at 12 The Square in Winchester selling needlework and wool goods in 1839. As the tourist trade began to flourish in Winchester in the 1850's with the advent of the railway, he began to sell a range of souvenir China, much of which was decorated with transfer prints of photographs of local scenes taken by himself. The China was 'published' by himself and produced by Copeland. It is likely that it was Savage's pottery that inspired W.H. Goss to begin producing the souvenir porcelain that is so famous today.
For more information see Nicholas Pine, The Concise Encyclopedia and Price Guide to Goss China, 1999, p. 285.
