An unusual piece of souvenir china depicting a crest for Elstree has been discovered by Elstree and Boreham Wood History Society.

The piece, a miniature watering can which stands around 8cm tall, carries the trademark of The Griffin China and was made in the early 1900s.

The crest shows St Nicholas Church, a hart, to symbolize Hertfordshire, and the three sea-axes of Middlesex.

The Griffin China was distributed by London wholesalers Sanderson and Young between the turn of the century and the First World War.

Sanderson and Young was one of around 350 companies which emerged at the time to satisfy a growing demand for pieces of crested china.

A firm called Goss started the crested china craze in the 1880s, when it began putting coats of arms on china seaside souvenirs.

Lynda Pine, proprietor of The Goss and Crested China Club, said: "Crested china was supplied at various outlets, such as book stores, railway stations and sweet shops.

"But you could only buy a piece with a specific crest in that specific place the companies were all very strict about that."

Although crested china was initially only created for holiday resorts, pieces were eventually made to carry the arms of almost every town and city in the country. Experts have estimated that, by 1910, 95 per cent of the households in Britain contained at least one piece of crested china.

Anyone with china carrying the Elstree crest, which they would be willing to show to the history society, is asked to call the newspaper on 020 8953 3391.