Bairnsfather Ware WW1 Commemorative Bowl

Towards the end of 1917 the publishers of The Bystander granted Leonard Grimwade of Grimwades Limited of Stoke on Trent, exclusive permission to reproduce a limited number of Fragments from French cartoons on items from their war time everyday pottery range then in production. The first piece to be made by the Staffordshire firm bearing one of Bruce Bairnsfather's cartoons was their 'War Time butter dish for a family of ten' and this was quickly followed by a whole range of pieces, from plates and plaques to teapots, flower pots, jugs, tobacco jars - in fact, just about any item of pottery you can think of, all featuring the famous Bairnsfather cartoons.

Bairnsfather Ware was an immediate success, and for the remainder of the duration of the war, the Grimwades factory churned out thousands of pieces featuring the Fragments from France drawings.

The Pottery Gazette also made a rather prophetic observation, commenting that “though people are likely to purchase these various articles for the ostensible purpose for which they were fabricated, it is almost inevitable that most people will want to put by pieces of this ware as a reminder to their children and children’s children of the most stressful period in the world’s history. Many early pieces feature the backstamp “Made by the Girls of Staffordshire during the Winter of 1917 when the boys were in the Trenches fighting for Liberty and Civilisation.” With the end of the war in November 1918 this was changed to either “A Souvenir of the Great War” or “A Momento of the Great War”, with the dates of commencement, Armistice and the Signing of Peace underneath.Old Bill is a fictional character created in 1914-1915 by cartoonist, Bruce Bairnsfather.

Old bill was depicted as an elderly, pipe smoking British " Tommy" with a walrus moustache. The character was a major morale booster for the British troops in World War 1.