Spode
works, Stoke-upon-Trent. Copyright: The
Potteries Museum & Art Gallery 2002.
The
Spodes were businessmen with a good eye for
opportunity. Demand for blue and white tea sets
with an oriental pattern grew in the 1770s and
1780s as the East India Company reduced the
importation of Chinese porcelain
(making it almost impossible to add to existing
sets or replace damaged pieces). In 1784 the
tax on tea was dramatically reduced, causing it
to be the drink of choice for more people, and
Spode were quick to take advantage of these
circumstances.
Spode continues to produce fine bone china on
its original site in Stoke today and the factory,
which was sold by the Spode family in 1833, now boasts a visitor centre and museum. Josiah Spode I and
II's graves can be visited in St.Peter's
Church, Stoke.
