John Democratis gave us a fascinating talk about Spode ceramics. He told us how his fascination with Spode started with a junk shop find that lead to an obsession. Thirty years later he is now a Trustee of the Spode museum.
Spode’s story aligns with British history from the days of the slave trade through to the decline in manufacturing. John focussed his talk on Spode in the Regency period, between 1797 – 1830. This was a period of great change in British society, the rise of the middle classes and increasing wealth lead to consumerism and the production of luxury and fashionable goods.
Josiah Spode I introduced the process of underglaze printing on earthenware which enabled goods to be produced more rapidly and profitably. He also developed Bone China but sadly died before he could bring it to market, this was left to his son Josiah Spode II. This and Josiah II’s business acumen lead to a huge increase in the size and value of the Spode company. He was also made Potter and Porcelain manufacturer to His Highness the Prince Regent.
Spode sadly closed its doors in 2008 leaving a legacy of over 70,000 recorded patterns and shapes in a range of materials from earthenware to bone china. Over 5,000 of these were in bone china which were mostly hand painted depicting designs from Japanese Imari, to fantasy birds and soft focus landscapes.
The vase in the photo is one of their Japanese Imari vases and is owned by John.