There is a lot more commemorative china available for the 1902 Guild than previous Guilds.1902 was literally the end of an era with the death of Queen Victoria the previous year.
It was also the end of the Boer Wars. These wars were fought in Africa between the British and the descendants of Dutch settlers.
Although Britain had some early success in the war, the Boers fought back, and the British ended up driving thousands of civilians into concentration camps.
The war was strongly opposed by many as the worst excesses of imperialism, and was the beginning of a shift in British foreign policy.
www.geocities.com for link to excellent site on the history of the Boer War.
One can only imagine how the people of Preston felt at the time of the 1902 Guild, but it would not be surprising if there was a sense of impending change.
The mug above is dark blue on white and on the front has the Preston coat of arms and the inscription "Preston Guild 1902".
On the reverse is a picture and the words "Lord Derby Guild Mayor of Preston 1902". The mug is gilt edged on rim and base and was marketed by W. Kilner of Bridge Street Preston.
The wall plate (right) is cream with gilt and green edging and has a floral design.
In the centre is the Preston coat of arms with "Preston Guild 1902" on a scroll design below.
The major event of 1902 for the whole country was the coronation of Edward VII as king.
The mugs commemorate both the Guild and the Coronation.
These mugs have lithophanes on the base, which when held to the light show a picture.
The mug on the right with the ornate "E" on the front shows a picture of Edward on the bottom, the mug on the left shows Alexandra.
Queen Victoria had reigned since 1837, a lifetime for most people in the nineteenth century.
Edward had ben born in 1841 and had married Alexandra in 1863.
Queen Victoria had given indication that she did not believe her son
was fit to be king and many people were apprehensive. Edward was also well known for having had many long affairs with women other than his wife.
Some of the more well known are Lillie Langtry (with whom he had a daughter), Daisy Brooke and Alice Keppel, with whom he was still having a relationship when he died in 1910.
There is quite a wide range of commemorative china available for collectors interested in Edward and Alexandra's coronation.
Simply typing in "Edward VII coronation" into a search engine will elicit a number of sites.
One which currently has a wide selection for sale is
www.royalcoll.fsnet.co.uk
The Coronation was originally scheduled for June 1902 but had to be delayed due to Edward becoming ill with appendicitis.
The correct date of the coronation was August 9th 1902.
Most of the memorabilia for the Coronation was made before it was postponed, and it is much rarer to find pieces with the correct date.
For a history of Edwards reign look at
www.britannia.com/history
The teapot above is brown glazed pottery with a wide cream band.
On the front and back are the Preston coat of arms and the inscription "Preston Guild 1902" underneath the crest.
The teapot is unmarked on the base.
The two saucers above left were marketed by C & W Shufflebottom, Preston.
The first saucer is white with a pale blue coat of arms and the inscription "1902 Preston Guild" below.
The second saucer is brown on white with the same coat of arms and inscription.
The mug is white with a blue design quarter of an inch below the lip. It has gold edging round base and rim and gold lettering with the words "Preston Guild 1902" now quite faded.
The Mayor for the 1902 Guild was Lord Derby.
His portrait can be seen on the rear of the brown glazed mug. On the front is a very ornate coloured coat of arms
with a wide cream band with the inscription "September 1902 Preston Guild".
These mugs were marketed by C.W. Shufflebotham, Preston.
In the book "Commemorative China for Preston Guild" Christina Sbresni
has a picture of a beaker with the same design and picture of the Mayor on the rear, but with a different version of the crest on the front.
There may well have been a number of different designs produced, and we would be interested to hear from anyone who has obtained any.
Contact me
The cream ware jug has gilt and brown decoration. The Preston coat of arms is on the front with the inscription
"September 1902 Preston Guild" below. The picture right is of the reverse, which shows Lord Derby.
Lord Derby had been M.P. for Preston as Lord Stanley of Preston. He was the nephew of the three times Prime Minister
"the Great Lord Derby." His election as Guild Mayor was a popular choice, and his picture is on many of the Guild commemoratives,
such as the wall plate (left).
In the pictures he is in robes and with his imposing chain of office he looks a little like Edward VII in the coronation souvenirs.
The wall plate has a gilt surround and has the Preston coat of arms
with the inscription "September 1902 Preston Guild" below.
The plate was marketed by C&W Shufflebotham.
Also on the plate is a picture of the Guild Hall.
This was the Guild Hall that had opened in 1867, replacing one that had had to be demolished in 1862 as it was dangerous.
Unfortunately the New Guild Hall was eventually destroyed by fire in 1947.
One of the benefits of setting up this website is that people email me pictures of their items. We have recently discovered that there is a red plate in the same design, and this picture was kindly sent by another collector for inclusion on the website.
Then even more recently I was sent another picture of the same plate in brown. We had assumed only the blue existed; know we know there are at least three different colours, and we presume the brown to be the rarest.
Kindly sent to me by another Preston Guild collector is their Earl Derby plates. The red one is the same as the red one above, but the blue one is somewhat more flamboyant with its decorative edging! That is quite some plate!
The picture also includes their 1902 sugar bowl.
The fluted cup and saucer (above) were made in Germany. On the base of the saucer are crossed swords and the name, presumably of the manufacturer, of Meissen.
On the base of the cup is the letter S in blue with a small crown above.
The words on the cup are "Memento of Preston Guild 1902" in scroll and "The Right Hon the Earl of Derby KG Guild Mayor."
The pictures on the cup are of Fishergate, Preston and the Public Libary and Museum.
The cup and saucer on the left are in a similar style to the fluted cup and saucer, with the same scroll - the scroll and the Preston Guild shield are almost the positive of the other cup and saucer's negative. What is nice about it is that although the lip of the cup is not fluted, the cup itself and the saucer are rippled.
The photograph of this cup and saucer was kindly sent to me by another Preston Guild collector, and it shows how many different designs were becoming available by 1902.
Apparently the libary was one of the first buildings in Preston to have changed from gas to electric lights by 1902.
The pictures on the saucer are of two aspects of Miller Park, one of Avenham Walk and a picture of Union Bridge.
I am told my great great great Grandfather was the chief stonemason on the bridge!
The jug is white with a blue coat of arms and the inscription "Preston Guild 1902" on a red scroll. The handle is gilt on white.
The white raised design is round the lip and base of the jug. The jug is marketed by W. Kilner of Preston.
The mug is white with the same scroll designs and words as the fluted mug above.
On the base it says it was manufactured for Gibson and Howorth, Glass and China dealers, Preston by William H. Goss, Stoke on Trent.
A very recent purchase of ours is the mug (left).
It has the same design on the front as the mug above it, the scroll design with the Preston coat of arms below.
Its distinguishing feature is the unusual shaped handle.
It was also manufactured for Gibson and Howorth by William H. Goss.
The 1902 medal (above right) shows the image of the mayor and his wife.
Round the edge are the words "The Earl of Derby K.G. Guild Mayor of Preston and the Countess of Derby."
The Guild sash (right) is not ours, but permission was very kindly given by the owner to put on our website as it is such an interesting piece of regalia.
The apron and sash are silk, and would have been worn by an official at the Guild.
On the collar is the coat of arms, edged in gold thread.
On the apron are leopards and a phoenix.
The lovely ribbon plate was very kindly sent to me for inclusion on the website by an enthusiastic Preston Guild collector, and is one of their prized pieces.
The ribbon is a deep purple and loops through the holes in the circumference of the plate.
The picture of the pendant was also kindly emailed to me. Click on the thumbnail to see the front and reverse - it says "steam engine makers society - united we stand".
Below are three postcards which show pictures of the 1902 Preston Guild, and give a flavour of what it was like.
The first postcard is a set of six images, taken from original photographs by R. Banks. The images are of various floats in the Guild processions.
The second postcard is of an evocative scene of the flags and decoration of Fishersgate in Preston.
The third postcard is again taken from original photographs by R Banks and the photographs are of various ceremonies and Guild officials.
Many thanks to the person who sent me the scans of these postcards to include on the website.
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