Josiah Spode I, 1733-97

Famous Potters of Stoke-on-Trent

Josiah Spode I, 1733-97

Josiah Spode, a former apprentice of the great Staffordshire potter, Thomas Whieldon, and continued by his son Josiah Spode II.

Josiah Spode I established a factory in 1761 in Shelton, and another in the town of Stoke in 1764.
He built up a highly successful business, first in creamware (a delicate cream-coloured earthenware) and later (from 1784) in pearlware (fine white-glazed earthenware) transfer-printed in blue; his son, also trained as a potter, ran the firm's warehouse in London.

Josiah Spode II led the development of bone china, which became the standard English porcelain body from about 1800 onwards.

Spode's two famous contributions to the Pottery Industry were the perfection of transfer printing in 1784 and the development of fine bone china in about 1799. (although bone china is a porcelain it is always referred to as bone china)

The successful development of bone china by the Spode factory at Stoke-on-Trent (around 1770-present - the exact date the factory was stared is not known), for wares of outstanding beauty and economy in the Regency style of the early 1800s, ensured its preeminence among commercial producers.

Spode's nearest rival was Minton (1796-present), outstanding in the Victorian period for its "art" porcelains. Among Spode's chief followers in producing bone china for the mass market were Davenport (c. 1793-1887); Wedgwood for a short period between 1812 and 1822 (Wedgwood later re-introduced bone china production, and they continue production today); Ridgway, New Hall, and Rockingham. A host of lesser concerns served the expanding middle-class market.

Spode created many of his patterns after Chinese designs, he developed a highly effective method of transfer printing with blue underglazes. He also experimented with a transparent but durable bone china, arriving at a formula that is still used. His son Josiah Spode II, 1754–1827, took over the pottery factory in 1797. He is credited with having introduced feldspar into Spode ware and for producing pottery of a high technical excellence.

Spode remained at the forefront of bone china and stone china production until 1833, when the factory was acquired by William Taylor Copeland and Thomas Garrett: it remained under their names until 1847, when Copeland became the sole owner.

Other relevant links

Josiah Spode II
Spode ware
Spode's pottery in Stoke - pictures
Visitor centre
Identifying marks on Spode ware
Identifying marks on Copeland & Garrett ware
The Willow Pattern

Spode's own Internet site: www.spode.co.uk

Bibliography

John Bedford, Old Spode China (1969);
L. R. Whiter, Spode: A History of the Family, Factory and Wares from 1733 to 1833 (1970).

questions / comments? email: Steve Birks