Kerryanne Clancy looks back 10 years in The Sentinel’s files to when Spode prepared for a fight against an American firm determined to copy the unique tableware it created for the ill-fated liner Titanic

WHILE Spode may now seem a shadow of its former self, once upon a time its tableware was to grace the tables of the world’s finest cruise ships.

Though little did the Stoke-based company know that some of its top-of-the-range plates, cups and bowls would end up on board the iceberg-stricken Titanic, which sank on its maiden voyage in 1912.

More than 1,500 lives were lost in the tragedy, including Hanley-born Captain Edward Smith, but it wasn’t until the wreck was rediscovered in 1985, and divers recovered some of the firm’s designs, that anyone knew they were on board.

Spode was commissioned by the White Star Line to produce a la carte dinner services, but had no idea on which vessel their wares would end up.

As far as the potbank was concerned, even after the success of the 1997 film by James Cameron starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, they did not want to re-issue the patterns and thus capitalise on the sad event.

But in April 1998, an American firm thought otherwise, and manufacturer Woodmere China and the Gillespie Group announced plans to make copies of the ware Spode supplied to the Titanic.

In The Sentinel at the time, then Spode spokeswoman, Debbie Somerfield, said: “Since we consider the original real-life event such an appalling tragedy, and not a subject for commercial exploitation, we have not capitalised or seen fit to offer any such product for sale.

“Spode is very protective of its reputation and wishes to make it clear that we have not authorised the ware on our brands, patterns or shapes in this venture, and will be taking strenuous legal action to protect our rights.

“Reproduction of this ware would be in very bad taste.”

And it appears the factory was supported in its stance by members of the public with an interest in the history of the ship.

Titanic Society member, Ray Johnson, of Hanford, who produced a series of historical documentaries about the ship, said at the time: “Spode is doing the proper British thing and respecting the memory of the ship and its passengers.

“You have to admire Spode for taking a stand like this. The Titanic is a grave for 1,500 people and it is something bigger than making plates for cash. I admire Spode greatly for taking this stand.”

Sadly, by the end of the month, it was ruled that while the U.S. firm could not use the Spode name, the company could not stop it making authentic reproductions of the patterns.

The Sentinel reported that at that time, original plates made by Spode for the White Star Line were selling for around £350 each in the U.S., yet strangely reproductions made for the film Titanic, were changing hands for around £1,000 in the States.

Pam Woolliscroft is the curator at the Spode Museum Trust, Stoke, and says two pieces remain in the reserve collection, which is available to view by appointment.

“The interesting thing from my point of view,” she adds, “is that the company had no idea where the pieces ended up until the ship was salvaged. Spode would have been approached by a chandlers, who would have agreed on a pattern and price, then the pieces would go into store, and would be requested by the White Star Line as they fitted out a ship.

“As far as the factory was concerned, all they needed for their records was what was needed for production.

“They would go to a pattern book with an exact number and look up a piece and have the information needed to make it.

“The most similar pattern we produce now to those which were onboard is a pattern called Lancaster Cobalt. It’s a fantastic pattern and costs about £230 for a plate, £650 for a teapot and £2,000 for a soup tureen.

“It’s a very elegant pattern and it does sell, and a whole set looks spectacular as it has real gold gilt on it.”