Crested china ambulance : First World War

China ambulance with a red cross on each side of the cabin. The ambulance's grill has a gilded edge. The roof of the vehicle bears the coat of arms of Sheerness on Sea on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. On the bottom of the ambulance is a maker's mark for Willow Art.

Crested china collecting became a craze in the Victorian period when tourists bought small ivory coloured porcelain ornaments decorated with the coats of arms of the towns they visited to take home as a souvenir. Before the First World War companies (the most famous and the original being Goss crested china) made collectibles such as vases, plates and other crockery, houses, public buildings, cars and replicas of visitor attractions. During the war the range of souvenirs was expanded to include military caps, equipment and vehicles.