Crested Puzzle Vessels.

From the late 19th Century to around 1920, a huge range of "crested" souvenir porcelain was produced. The base material was plain white to which was added the Coat of Arms of the town in which it was to be sold.

Thousands of different objects were made and they became , and have still remained, highly collectable.

Some collectors pick on one type of object such as the Kensington Jug above and try to collect examples from every town in the UK.

Other collectors choose a town and try to collect every object that has that town's Arms.

At the Puzzle Museum we collect different types of puzzle and so far have found over 40 different shapes.

The commonest shape is that shown above, followed by the Tankard below.

Amongst our favourites are those marked "Patent 2006" This 1909 patent was mostly used by Czechoslovakian manufacturer Gemma for a series of nearly 20 shapes of ingenious little puzzle vessels, which incorporated two puzzles:
1) How to fill without spilling anything.
2) How to either pour out, or to drink, again without spilling any liquid.

These are the largest (65 x 100mm) and the smallest (34mm) examples of patent 2006 that we have found. Both have the arms of LONDON. Others are shown in the photo below.

Note: The use of "Crested" is really incorrect as it is usually the full civic Coat of Arms that appears on the objects. This consists The ARMS shown on the shield, the CREST on a wreath at the top, and the MOTTO below.