Pope Gosser, China Replacements, American Dinnerware
Replacement China in the Discontinued China Patterns Made by Pope Gosser China.
The Pope-Gosser company was organized in Coshocton, Ohio in 1902 by Charles F. Gosser and Bentley Pope.
In the beginning it experimented with high quality decorative pieces. Later on the concentration was on dinnerware.
The company closed in 1958.
Pope was a skillful decorator who was born in England.
He came to America in 1870 and worked at Trenton
until 1891, when he moved to Ohio. At that time he
become manager of KTK until 1903, when he left to
form the Pope-Gosser China Company with Gosser.
The wares were "excellently potted" and the shapes
were a departure from existing models.
The company begin to immediately produce high grade
translucent china for vases, etc. Not finding the profit
in this line, the company switched to dinnerware
which was harder than the usual dinnerware of the
times. Pope-Gosser joined the ill-fated American
China Company in 1929. After the demise of that
company, Pope-Gosser was re-organized in 1932 by Frank Judge. The company
continued to make semiporcelain wares until 1958, although the
quality of these wares was not up to the standards of the old
company. Pope-Gosser made two noteworthy dinnerware shapes:
Louvre (which was another attempt by American potters to
imitate the works of Haviland of France) and Edgemore. Of these
two, the Edgemore shape has shown up quite often in Antique
shops. Perhaps this is due to its rather unusual appearance,
which makes it easy to spot even when it is mingled in with
other shapes by other potters. If you have not yet
encountered Pope-Gosser´s Edgemore dinnerware, do not
hestitate to pick up and examine it next time you find it.
Note the workmanship and the feeling of delicacy that made it
stand out from the wares of other potters of the same time and
region.
(Information from Turn of The Century Dinnerware
by Joanne Jasper).
Click photos for List of available pieces. |
