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There seem to have been many commemorative items to have survived from the 1922 Guild.
1922 was a period of decline for Preston, and indeed for most of Lancashire.
The Great War had finished only 4 years previously, and cotton mills were closing in Preston as mills opened in Japan and India, where labour costs were cheaper.
1922 was the last Guild in which the cotton trade was at the forefront, and there were many floats to "King Cotton."
The rosebowl above is a rare piece from 1922. It has a cream coloured outer, white inner and gold rim on the base and the lip.
On the front and the reverse are the town hall, Preston coat of arms, town cryer, and the words "Preston Guild 1922", as well as "Astley Bell Esq. J.P. Mayor."
The small rosebowl(right) is very similar but with a metal mesh.
There is a top insert containing a floral design with a patent number on the insert. The word "England" is printed on the base of the bowl.
The fruit bowl (right) is white with a beige fluted lip. It was marketed by J.Kent Fenton England and this is marked on the base.
Mr and Mrs Astley-Bell are depicted in the centre of a floral design, with the words "Preston Guild Merchant" above the design and below "granted by Royal Charter of Henry II 1922."
There had been huge changes in the world between 1902 and 1922.
The Great War had been followed by an influenza epidemic, and then the post war boom was followed by a slump and growing unemployment.
Russia had had a Communist Revolution in 1917. Some feared and others welcomed socialism, and discontent with working conditions and the levels of unemployment eventually led to a General Strike in 1926.
Women (over 30) had the vote for the first time in 1918.
These changes would have been noticeable in the attitudes and fashions of the 1922 Guild.
The 1920's was the era of the flapper girl. Women were out of their restricting corsets and into short skirts and wearing their hair short.
The dancing craze meant that at this Guild there were less concerts at which people sit and watch others perform, and more balls where people could dance.
The single flower vase (above left) is off white with a pink/beige hue, as well as gold round the rim.
The design is of the Town Hall in the centre with the Preston coat of arms to the left and the Town Cryer right.
It is inscribed "Preston Guild Sept 1922, H Astley-Bell Esq. J.P. Mayor."
Made by Shelley, England on base.
The Sandwich plates above (left and right) are exactly the same, except for the colours. The one on the left is pale green, the one on the right is pink.
They both have Mr and Mrs Astley-Bell depicted on either side of the Preston coat of arms.
The words "Preston Guild Merchant Granted by Royal Charter of Henry II A1180AD 1922" are surrounded by a myrtle wreath.
The green plate has the number 12 on the base, the pink one is unmarked.
The matching pink trinket box has the same wording as the sandwich plates, and is also unmarked on the base.
It appears that the sandwich plates and trinket boxes were made in various colours, as we also have a trinket box exactly the same in beige.
The embossed blue and white jug (right) has the Mayor and Mayoress depicted with the Preston coat of arms "Sept 1922 Preston Guild Merchant."
There is a floral scroll design round the lip edge and on the handle.
The jug is manufactured by Adams.
The Octagonal plate, planter and tumbler (right) are all manufactured by Ducal which is in written on the base of each.
They all depict Mr and Mrs Astley-Bell and on either side of a myrtle wreath with the words "Preston Guild Merchant granted by Royal Charter of Henry II A1180D."
The plate is off white with yellow edging, the planter and tumbler are white with yellow round the top and bottom.
The teapot (above) is biscuit colour, and has a similar design to the plate, planter and tumbler on both the front and back.
The top lip, spout and handle have a gold design.
On the lid is a myrtle wreath with "1180" over "1922".
"England" is on the base.
The Pot Pourii bag is an unusual commemorative item.
It is pink with a drawstring, and has a floral design with the words "Preston Guild 1922" on the front. It is plain pink on the reverse.
The Preston Guild jug is off white with a biscuit colour near the top and base.
Mr and Mrs Astley-Bell, the Mayor and Mayoress, are depicted in the centre of the floral design with the words "Preston Guild Merchant" above and "granted, Royal Charter of Henry II A.D. 1180 1922" below.
The jug was manufactured by J.Kent, Fenton,
England and marked on the base.
The Mayor at the 1922 Guild was a local business man, company director in the cotton trade and other fields and a member of the Blackburn Commercial Mission to China.
He "had lived among the people of Preston, worked among them and prospered among them."
He was a popular choice as Mayor, and this may be the reason why his image is present, looking resplendent in his mayoral robes and chains of office, on many of the 1922 commemorative items.
The set of jugs and cup and saucer (above) are prime examples of commemorative items with prominent pictures of Mr and Mrs Astley-Bell.
On the reverse is the Preston coat of arms.
Some are manufactured by W. Kilner Ltd, Preston. On two of these items the W.Kilner is overstamped on top of Stanley China, England on the base.
Two others are manufactured by J.Kent, Fenton, England on the base.
The cup (left) has the Preston crest with Mr and Mrs Astley-Bell on either side, and the words "Preston Guild Merchant granted by Royal Charter of Henry II A.1180 D.
On the reverse is the a myrtle wreath with the dates 1180 above and 1922 below.
The two large mugs (right) have very similar designs to those already described above.
The one to the right is very similar to the teacup above, the one to the left has a similar design to that on the selection of jugs above.
The mug (below right) has the Preston coat of arms above "Preston Guild 1922" on a scroll on the front.
It has crossed shepherds crooks on the reverse. It was manufactured by W.Kilner of Preston and this is marked on the base.
The cup and saucer (left) are white with a similar Preston coat of arms and scroll on the front, and also have crossed shepherds crooks on the reverse.
They are also manufactured by W.Kilner, and have this name and "Preston and Stanley China, England" on the base of both the cup and the saucer.
The five mugs ( below left) all have similar designs on the front.
The mug on the left is a biscuit colour with a floral design on the reverse. It is unmarked on the base.
The white mug, second on the left, is manufactured by Diamond China Ltd, England.
The middle mug is pale blue and manufactured by Crown Ducal Ware, England.
The second from right is white bone china and manufactured by Shelley China, England.
The mug on the right is off white with a blue tinge and is unmarked on the base.
The three cups (right) have the same design on all three. The Preston coat of arms is on the left.
The town hall is surrounded by a wreath in the centre with "Preston Guild Sept 1922" in a scroll.
The Town Cryer is on the right with the words "Oyez, Oyez, Oyez" above him.
The only difference between the cups is that the middle cup is a different shape from the other two
and that the words "H.Astley-Bell Esq. J.P. Mayor" are on the front, whereas on the other cups these words are on the reverse.
The mug (right) has the same design as the collection of five mugs and three cups.
It was manufactured by Diamond China Ltd Preston.
The cup is manufactured by WM Kilner Ltd also of Preston and is made from white china with the Preston coat of arms and with "Preston Guild 1922" on the front.
On the reverse are two crossed shepherds crooks.
The Guild medal (right) has "Henry and Mabel Astley-Bell Guild Mayor and Mayoress" on one side.
As we have seen so many pictures of them on 1922 Guild memorabilia, this picture is of the other side.
It says "To Commemorate the Celebration of Guild Merchant."
Around the top are the words "Borough of Preston".
Next to the year - 1922 - are the words "Spink Lon". The maker of the medal was Spink.
Underneath the woman's feet it says "the Ribble", which is the river which runs through Preston.
The two jugs (left and right) are the same design again as many of the 1922 items.
They have the ornate Preston coat of arms on the front, with Mr and Mrs Astley-Bell on either side.
The jug to the right has a gold rim around the top lip and the handle.
The jug on the left is more bulbous and has a more angled shape handle.
The mug ( below left and right) is the again the same on the front as the jugs above and many other items, with the ornate design with Mr and Mrs Astley-Bell and the Preston coat of arms.
However, on the reverse is a picture of St Phillips Protestant School Church, with the inscription Preston Guild 1922.
As Christina Sbresni notes in her book this is interesting in a town with a strong Catholic influence.
It appears that since the 1860's schools such as St Phillips were teaching children who would otherwise not get an education. They were taught reading, writing and sums as well as traditional Sunday School lessons.
After the school closed it was a scout hut, and when Christina wrote her book in 1992 it was a store room used by the Thorn Lighting Company.
We would be interested if anyone knows whether this school was the only one depicted on a 1922 mug, or whether there are others.
Perhaps there were a collection of schools on mugs, or perhaps this school were particularly involved in the Guild in 1922.
It would also be interesting to know if the school is still a storeroom.
The multiple items (to the left and right) were very kindly sent to me to include on this website by another Preston Guild collectables collector.
The items on the left are a mug with Mr and Mrs Astley-Bell depicted, similar in design to some of the others on this page but not exactly the same. There is also a decorative plate which again is similar to the one second from the top on this page, but this one has more designs especially the two swirls on either side of the plate.
The sandwich plate is a fairly common item for the 1922 Guild. The beaker has a picture of the Old Town Hall.
The items on above right are interesting. There is a small sugar bowl with the Preston crest, a lovely two handled vase, with the recognisable picture of the Old Town Hall like many other 1922 items.
There is also a temperance medal, which is the first item we have seen directly linking the temperance movement to the Preston Guild.
The picture of the metal embossed tray, measuring 16" length x 12"
height, was sent to me by someone in the USA who kindly agreed to let me include it on this website.
It is ornately embossed with "Souvenir of Preston Guild-Merchant,
September 1922." Although it may have been silver plated at one time, it
has a wonderful age of patina and retains the stamped design.
The owner believes it is steel. At the bottom right of the tray, stamped into it is
"copyright by HY Corteri", or something similar to that.
We were very interested in the tray as it is so different from the other 1922 designs.
If anyone knows anything about this piece do contact me as the owners would like any more information.
This decorative piece of soap is also added to this website with the kind permission of the owner.
As with nearly all the 1922 items, it too has a likeness of Mr and Mrs Astley-Bell, imprinted in the soap. But in the side on the picture it is the maker of the soap that it visible.
It is quite impressive to me that the soap has managed to stay in such good condition for so many years.
If you have any items for me to include on this, or any of the other pages of this website, please
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