Welcome to the home of Spode

Many of the items in the ceramics collection were assembled by the Copeland family in the 1920s and the 1950s. Subsequent donations received from a number of sources have made it not only truly representative of the factory’s productions over the centuries, but also one of the largest and most important ceramics collections in the world.

This ceramics collection was formerly housed in buildings on the Spode factory site in Church Street, Stoke. Some of the earliest pieces, the finest bone china pieces and the early blue transfer printed wares were housed in two showrooms, forming a shop window for the Spode Company. Many very fine pieces were unable to be displayed due to lack of space. In 2009, when the factory closed, the entire collection was removed from the site and placed into storage.  Now the entire collection has been returned to the site and a limited amount, due to space restrictions, is on display.

The uniqueness of the Archive is due to a large extent that over two centuries successive Spode managements kept many documents and archive items that others might have thrown out. Copperplates and moulds were kept in case of possible re-use; conscious of the factory’s history and reputation, many everyday factory documents were kept for posterity rather than destroyed. This factor makes the history of Spode one of the best preserved of all factories.

Latest Museum News

A Tale of Two Cities: Stoke on Trent Meets Jingdezhen

This wonderful documentary was aired on the biggest television network in China: China Global TV Network and featured in the latest edition of Oriental Ceramic Society newsletter which reported the Spode’s Museums Willow exhibition and symposium.  Click onto the link below and enjoy.

https://www.cgtn.com/tv/replay?id=CdGfGEA

This major academic exhibition “Willow Pattern Ceramics and Stories of Other” runs until 30^th August 2026.

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Art in the home in 70,000 objects: Reopening the Spode Ceramic Collection

The Spode Museum Trust is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a Curatorial Research Grant by the prestigious Paul Mellon Centre.

The Spode Ceramic collection is one of the largest and most complete collections, documenting 250 years of domestic taste, decorative arts and technological innovation.  Most items are still boxed in our storage spaces at the Spode Museum.  It is time to open up the collection to a new generation of visitors, researchers and artists.

The grant from the Paul Mellon Centre will help us to employ a full-time professional curator based at the Museum, dedicated to the study and care for the ceramics collection, so that items can be displayed, new exhibitions can be developed, and research results can add to our digital museum.

We will be assembling an Advisory Group that can provide a range of expertise and perspectives, helping to guide our project as it develops. The Advisory Group will be drawn from local communities, and researchers and professionals from other museums and institutions.   We will share on social media some key discoveries and themes about the Collection.