The bottom of this red clay tumbler or cup is marked Watcombe, Torquay, England. Watcombe Pottery operated in Torquay, a seaside town in Devon, from 1869 to 1962. These motto ware pieces initially were made as souvenirs for the emerging tourist trade,starting in the 1920’s.
Motto ware is named for all the brief but often profound sayings on the pottery. This particular type of Torquay pottery is also called cottageware for the pictures of cottages which are applied using colored slip(liquid clay) to draw with. The mottoes are scratched through the layer of slip that covers the item (a process called sgraffito).
The saying on this tumbler is “The only way to have a friend is to be one”. It is about 4 inches tall, 3 ¼ inches across the top and 2 inches across the base.
PYH 3653
By: Linda Henrich
Photos By: Wayne Henrich