Spode Museum facts for kids

The Spode Museum is a special place in Stoke-on-Trent, England. This city is famous for making pottery. The museum tells the story of Josiah Spode, who started his pottery business here in 1774. He was an important person during the Industrial Revolution. The museum has a huge collection of pottery made by Spode over 200 years. You can see amazing pieces made for kings and queens, big exhibitions, and even simple dishes used every day.

The Story of Spode Pottery

How Spode Changed Pottery Making

Josiah Spode made two very important discoveries. First, he created Bone China. This special type of china became the best quality for all English pottery. Second, he made underglaze transfer printing much better. This was a way to print designs onto pottery before it was glazed. It meant that many beautiful ceramic items could be made quickly. This was a huge step for mass-production.

A Big Factory in Stoke

By the early 1820s, Spode's factory was very large. His son, Josiah Spode II, and his business partner, William Copeland, were in charge. The factory became the biggest in Stoke. About 2,000 people worked there. It had 22 bottle ovens, which were huge kilns for firing pottery.

The Factory's Long Life

The Spode factory made pottery continuously from 1774 until 2008. That's over 230 years! In 2008, the factory closed. However, the Spode brand was bought by Portmeirion. They still make Spode-branded items at their own factory in Stoke.

The Spode factory was huge, covering about 9 acres. It had around 90 buildings. Because there was so much space, many items that might have been thrown away were simply stored. Over two centuries, a massive amount of papers and objects were collected.

Protecting the Collection

In 1987, the Spode company realized how important its collection was. They created the Spode Museum Trust. This is a special charity that took over the entire collection. This was done to protect the collection forever. It meant the collection would be safe, no matter what happened to the Spode company.

Recent Events at the Museum

In April 2018, a car accidentally hit the museum. It caused some damage to items in the museum shop. In 2022, the museum held a special art exhibition. This show featured art made from the items that were damaged in the accident.

The Amazing Spode Collection

What's Inside the Museum

The Spode Museum has the largest collection of Spode pottery in the world. It's truly unique!

It also has a huge "paper" archive. This includes about 250,000 documents and old photographs. One of the most important parts is 70,000 hand-painted watercolor pictures. These show every pottery pattern made since about 1800.

Copper Plates and Tools

The museum also has about 25,000 engraved copper plates. These plates were used to print designs onto the pottery. Some of them date back to the 1790s! This is the largest collection of its kind anywhere. You can also see old potters' tools and machines. Some of these are even older than 1800.

Visiting the Spode Works

Since 2008, most of the collection has been kept safely in storage. But with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Spode Museum Trust opened a new place in 2012. It's called the Spode Works Visitor Centre. It's located in part of the historic Spode factory, so you can visit and see some of these amazing items!