Spode

Last updated 7th November, 2008

The collapse of Stoke-based Spode is another blow to the once-booming pottery industry in Stoke-on-Trent. Richard Ault looks back on the company’s proud history and the role it has played in North Staffordshire.

 

JOSIAH Spode revolutionised the pottery industry with the invention of bone china more than two centuries ago.

And over the years that followed, manufacturing at Spode’s Church Street works in Stoke remained based on the principles first employed by Josiah back in the 18th century.

 

Josiah Spode I

The manufacturer was born in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, in March, 1733.

As an apprentice to master potter Thomas Whieldon, at his factory in Fenton, 16-year-old Josiah learned to make agate snuffboxes, salt-glazed figures and cream-coloured earthenware, later called Queen’s Ware.

The apprenticeship ended in 1752, but Josiah stayed with Whieldon for a further couple of years, before going to work for William Banks and John Turner, at their factory in Stoke.

On September 8, 1754, Josiah married haberdasher Ellen Finley. The couple had seven children, including two boys – Josiah, whom historians refer to as Josiah Spode II, and Samuel.

When the partnership between Banks and Turner ended in 1762, Josiah remained with Banks and became works manager.

In 1767, he took the bold step and left, opening his own potbank in Vale Lane, Shelton, which specialised in cream-coloured and blue painted earthenware.

The success of this venture meant that he was able to buy a larger factory in Stoke – the Church Street works which belonged to his former employer William Banks.

Ceramics had been produced from Church Street since about 1750, and Josiah acquired the works after he obtained a contract to make plates and soup bowls for Wedgwood.

 

Inventing bone china

The factory already produced Black Egyptian and blue-painted pearl ware. In addition, Josiah manufactured porcelain and experimented with underglaze printing. Fascinated by oriental designs, he perfected this method of transfer printing and produced his world-famous willow pattern pottery. As his goods became more popular, Josiah opened London showrooms in Fore Street, near Cripplegate, and sent his son, Josiah II, to manage them.

Josiah Spode II was also a shrewd businessman who, living in London with his wife Elizabeth and their five children, went on to become a freeman of the city.

Using his marketing skills, Josiah II sold dinner services and tea sets to society hostesses and political leaders. The designer of these was an engraver called Thomas Minton. Trade flourished and Josiah II was made a partner in the business.

Together, the Spodes leased the old Theatre Royal in Lincolns Inn Fields, in 1794, and made it their first London showroom.

During the 1790s, Josiah I also built the Foley Pottery, in King Street, Fenton, which he gave to his other son, Samuel, who made salt-glaze ware there until his death in 1817.

Josiah senior was a workaholic, whose only outside interest was music. He enjoyed playing the violin, and was always willing to play for his friends when parties were held.

In the final years of the 18th century, Josiah I perfected the formula for fine bone china, which has been described by commentators as the single most important advance in the history of the pottery industry.

It ensured that Spode would survive beyond the death of its founder, and flourish through the 19th and 20th centuries as one of the great names in the industry.

At the age of 64, Josiah I was taken ill and died suddenly on August 18, 1797.

Like Josiah Wedgwood and Thomas Whieldon, he was buried in Stoke churchyard. His wife Ellen died five years later in 1802, and was laid to rest alongside him.

However, by then, the name of Spode was already well on its way to enjoying the fame it still holds today.

 

Josiah Spode II

When his father died, Josiah II inherited the factory. He returned home from London and rented Fenton Hall, a house with gardens and fishponds overlooking Trent Valley.

During 1803, Josiah bought a 17 acre estate at Penkhull, where he erected the Mount. A stone-built two-storey building, it had a semi-circular entrance leading to a staircase lit by a glass dome.

There were two ice-houses in the grounds and the drive was guarded by a small lodge with a Classical stone portico.

Later, the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary was built on part of the estate and in 1897, the Mount became the North Staffordshire Blind and Deaf School.

An intensely patriotic man, Josiah responded to his country’s call when, in 1798, France, which had been at war with England and her allies since 1793, had overrun Europe and was preparing to invade the British Isles.

The Government asked for volunteers to fight alongside the regular army if there was an invasion and Josiah responded by forming and commanding the Loyal Pottery Volunteer Cavalry. About 70 men joined the unit. They provided their own horses and paid for their uniforms and equipment.

The invasion never came, but the country was no doubt grateful to Josiah for his patriotism.

When the Prince of Wales came to the Potteries in 1806, he visited the Spode works and gave Josiah permission to call himself “Potter and English Porcelain Manufacturer to HRH Prince of Wales”.

He also asked Spode to produce the banqueting service for his coronation as George IV.

The company has held Royal Warrants ever since – its present warrant was granted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1971 – and has also received commissions from the East India Company, Charles Dickens and the Shah of Persia.

Helped by the prince’s patronage, Spode prospered. Josiah became the country’s most successful bone china manufacturer.

He made high-quality tableware and dinner services, which were hand-painted and decorated with exquisite gilding by a team of craftsmen led by Henry Daniel.

Josiah died, aged 72, on July 16, 1827 and was buried in the churchyard at Stoke Minster.

 

W T Copeland

After Josiah’s death, Spode was bought by William Taylor Copeland.

He consolidated Spode’s early success, and in 1867 the company’s official trade name was changed to WT Copeland and Sons, only reverting back to Spode in 1970.

Over the years, five generations of the Copeland family have been involved in the running of the business.

The firm remained in the Copeland family until 1966.

 

Sinking with the Titanic

Among some of the more prestigious commissions awarded to Spode over the course of the 20th century was one to make wares for the infamous RMS Titanic, the ocean liner which was believed to be ‘unsinkable’.

The company was commissioned by the White Star Line to produce a la carte dinner services, including plates, cups, saucers and bowls, to grace the tables of the doomed ship which sank on its maiden voyage in 1912.

The wreck was rediscovered in 1985, and divers were able to recover some of the Stoke firm’s richly-decorated designs.

Spode management rejected suggestions they should re-issue the patterns because they did not want to capitalise on the tragedy of the sinking, which claimed more than 1,500 lives including Hanley-born Captain Edward Smith.

But following the success of the 1997 film Titanic, Connecticut-based Gillespie announced plans to exploit the popularity of the movie by manufacturing reproductions of Spode china.

Spode took legal action, but was unable to prevent the American firm copying its salvaged ware, although it did manage to prevent the Gillespie group using Spode’s name on any of its Titanic Range goods or advertising.

In the wake of the success of the Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet movie, original plates made by Spode for the White Star Line sold for about £350 each in the United States. However, reproductions made for the film Titanic and sold on afterwards changed hands for around £1,000.

 

Christmas Tree

Spode’s ‘Christmas Tree’ was designed by Harold Holdway in 1938 after a Christmas pattern was requested for the American market. It was an immediate success.

Harold Holdway later became director of design at Spode.

He had never seen a Christmas tree, which is why the Spode design has a Santa, not a fairy, on the top of the tree. His first sketch had all the presents suspended from the tree, but he changed it when he learned the American tradition was to place them around the foot.

Several versions of ‘Christmas Tree’ have been produced, and the success of Spode’s design has led to many imitations. The design is featured on a range of tableware, giftware and cookware, including a ‘Cookies for Santa’ plate.

It celebrated its 65th anniversary in 2003, by which time it was confirmed as the world’s best-selling festive dinnerware pattern.

 

Riding the storm

Throughout the 1990s and early 21st century, many of Spode’s neighbouring potteries fell into severe financial difficulties, most notably Royal Doulton, which was eventually taken over by its great rival, Wedgwood.

Throughout this difficult period, only Spode continued to prosper. The company put its continued success down to Spode being run as an individual concern, separate to any other partner company – whereas in the 1980s, it had been run as an outpost of its sister company, Royal Worcester.

Steve Riley, Spode’s Marketing and Sales Support Manager, told The Sentinel in 1999: “We had our bad period in the 1980s, but we came out of it very lean and we’ve developed.

“When the industry hit problems with major instability, we were in a very lean condition.

“If we saw, for example, fine bone china sales dipping, we would see that quickly and could act quickly.”

At that time the company employed nearly 600 people at its Church Street site, in manufacturing both fine bone china and earthenware products.

The company was so confident of its continued success, it opened up its own collectors’ club.

The company was further endorsed by the visit of The Prince of Wales, who charmed workers at Church Street during his stop in 1998.

Spode’s visitor centre had opened in 1995 at the Church Street works, at a cost of £500,000, and that also helped to build interest in its products.

In 1997, just two years after it opened as a tourist destination, 6,000 people went on factory tours and 12,000 to the visitor centre, but the factory shop was by far the most popular attraction, with 260,000 visits.

Its visitor centre was housed in buildings dating from 1812, while the Spode museum collection, which is thought to have been established in about 1925, was sited in the oldest part of the factory.

In October 1999, children’s TV show Blue Peter was broadcast live from the Spode factory, marking celebrations of 200 years of Spode bone china.

 

Java and Sumatra

In the early part of the 21st century, Spode continued to enjoy growth and success.

In 2000, Spode transformed the derelict former Co-op building next to its factory into a showroom, for a mere £150,000. At 2,400 sq ft, the shop doubled Spode’s existing showroom floor space and meant the company could show off all its products in the same outlet. By then, 225,000 people a year visited Spode.

The following year, Royal Doulton sold Caithness Glass to Spode and its sister company Royal Worcester for £6.1 million.

Then, in 2002, Spode’s new iridescent Java and Sumatra ranges attracted exceptional interest at the summer Stoke Show – despite being a significant departure on its traditional and archive-based products.

 

Spode falls into decline

Eventually, the rot which had set into the rest of the potteries industry began to affect Spode. In October 2003, 250 production workers were put on a four-day working week, for a 13-week period, as a result of difficult trading conditions.

Spode’s Art Deco china helped to keep the company’s finances ticking over. The range was launched in 2003, in association with top designer Nick Munro, and proved a winner with young professionals. The Art Deco range was originally commissioned by the Victoria & Albert Museum, solely to feature in an exhibition celebrating inspiration in the 1930s. But, in a move to throw off something of an old-fashioned image, the company took the decision to put it into production.

In 2004, glassware firm Caithness Glass was placed into receivership, just two years after it was purchased by Spode and sister company Royal Worcester. The firm employed 150 people at two factories in Scotland.

Then, in September 2005, Spode announced it was axing 80 jobs after becoming the latest pottery firm to become a casualty of a slump in demand.

Spode announced losses had risen from £3.6 million in the calendar year 2004 to £4.4 million in 2005, as revenues dipped from £43.7 million to £39.8 million.

In June 2007 Spode made 250 of its workers redundant, leaving just 160 staff at the company’s historic headquarters in Church Street, Stoke, including 20 prestige pottery manufacturing workers.

The job losses meant the company increased the amount of its wares made overseas from 40 per cent to 75 per cent.

Spode managing director David Benjamin told The Sentinel: “Although this sees the ending of one chapter in Spode’s history, it is the beginning of a new one which we feel confident we will secure the future of the business.”

The company decided to concentrate on making hand-decorated top-end wares from the Church Street factory.

 

Uncertain future

In 2006, Spode entered into talks to sell its historic 10-acre factory and visitor centre in Church Street, Stoke.

Instead it planned to move manufacturing operations to a new site in the Potteries.

However, the company put its relocation plans on the back burner in 2007, after announcing the 250 job losses.

Then, in September, 2008, bosses at Royal Worcester and Spode announced they were considering selling both businesses. The company appointed accountancy practice KPMG to review options for the company’s future. One option included principal shareholder Alan Finden-Crofts selling his stake in the business.

Union representatives described it as a “complete disaster”, were Spode to be sold.

The Spode Museum Trust, a non-profit making charity, announced it would no longer be staffed from April 24, 2008. The museum trust’s vast archive is now held at the Stoke-on-Trent City Archives. The huge 7,000-piece archive took seven months to pack and move.

Meanwhile an advertisement on Spode’s website announced a closing down sale at its factory shop in Church Street, due to, “future relocation”.

However, Spode’s wares continue to draw collectors. Owners of Spode china have included great historical figures such as the Royals, Winston Churchill and conqueror of Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary. Ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair bought a £1,400 Spode Stafford Flowers dinner service as a birthday gift to the Queen in 2006, while Formula 1 racing champion Michael Schumacher and TV presenter Anthea Turner are known to own Spode china.

In November 2008, Spode collapsed into administration after being hit hard by the economic downturn.