Miniature vase, with Coldstream coat of arms

This porcelain miniature vase is decorated with the coat of arms of the town of Coldstream. It was made for the souvenir market by the Nautilus Porcelain Company at the Possil Pottery in Glasgow and dates from between around 1900 and 1910.

The arms show the seal of the town of Coldstream: a fish with a hook in its mouth, a wheel and various small objects which could represent the sun, moon and stars or perhaps water flowers by a mill-wheel. The fish may be a salmon and allude to the salmon stocks in the River Tweed or it may be a representation of Christ. The Latin inscription around the arms reads 'DE CALDESTREM SIGILLS DE MARIE'.

Crested china became the most important type of British souvenir between 1900 and 1930. Its invention is credited to William Henry Goss (1833-1906), the owner of the Falcon Works in Stoke-on Trent. The main producer of crested china in Scotland was the Nautilus Porcelain Company, at the Possil Pottery in Glasgow. Run by the china merchants MacDougall & Sons, of 77-79 Buchanan Street, the company produced 'Nautilus' miniatures between around 1900 and 1910. The pottery closed in 1911.

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