Ceramics has been an important part of Stoke’s heritage, but our museum shows that it’s part of the area’s creative future too.
So many people have a Wedgwood connection, whether it’s their granny’s prized teapot, a relative who worked in the ceramics industry in Stoke-on-Trent, or even just recognizing the iconic blue and white of Wedgwood jasper or having a favourite mug that links back to the history of the Potteries. The V&A Wedgwood Collection, which includes over 175,000 ceramics, paintings, designs, letters and photographs across its collections and archives, is much more than a design history of Wedgwood. It tells the story of the company’s founder Josiah Wedgwood [link Wedgwood: An introduction · V&A] and his many interesting family members, from Charles Darwin onwards; it captures the contributions of the talented artists, designers and craftspeople who made the company’s pots; it encompasses designs that changed the narrative such as Wedgwood’s anti-slavery medallion and the creation of new materials like Jasperware.
Here, I’m sharing some highlights from the last ten years in ten objects from the V&A Wedgwood Collection.
1. Re-thinking the Wedgwood Anti-slavery medallion
This live research project, trail and display co-curated with sixth form students from Stoke-on-Trent explored the story of Wedgwood’s anti-slavery medallion and reimagined it for the 21st century. A new medallion, created as a limited edition in the Wedgwood factory from a design by student Amy Sproston, is now on display at the V&A Wedgwood Collection, and in 2025 will also go on show in the new V&A East Storehouse and at V&A South Kensington. Wedgwood’s medallion continues to challenge and inspire today.
2. The Portland Vase reimagined
Wedgwood’s recreation of the Portland vase in Jasper was a technical and artistic achievement, and this iconic shape remains a touchpoint for artists and researchers. From a joint project with Staffordshire University in 2021 to 3D scan the vase, to the acquisition of Hitomi Hosono’s Shōka Vase designed during her collaboration with Wedgwood, and Alice Walton’s ‘Portland Ribbons’, created during a residency with the British Ceramics Biennial. These re-imaginings keep the recognisable shape of the vase while transforming its surface with contemporary decoration.
3. A fashionable acquisition
This glamorous art deco set is a rare and unusual example of Paul Follot’s designs for Wedgwood, reflecting the tastes of its collector, fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, known for his love of monochrome as well as his interest in ceramics. These extraordinary pieces and their design drawings fill an important gap in the V&A Wedgwood Collection, and are a wonderful example of the Wedgwood company’s tradition of working with innovative artists to create their designs, and of inspiring tastemakers. They were acquired in 2021 thanks to the generosity of many donors.
4. Collecting today’s Wedgwood
Wedgwood continues in production today, and thanks to the V&A’s partnership with Fiskars, the custodian of the Wedgwood brand since 2015, we continue to select both unusual and representative examples of Wedgwood for the collection, from artistic collaborations to designs inspired by the Archives.
5. 20th century design classics
A gift of a breakfast set with the ‘Travel’ pattern, designed by artist Eric Ravilious who created many of Wedgwood’s most popular designs, gave a fuller picture of Wedgwood’s mid-century production. Alongside ethe original watercolours for the matter already in the collection, this set helped us show how designs from the archives were translated onto ceramics, and featured in the BBC series Secrets of the Museum.
6. Highlights exhibition showcases the Wedgwood story
We’re highlighting the global appeal of Wedgwood through our major touring exhibition, Wedgwood: Artists and Industry, which opens in Australia in 2025. Featuring highlights from the 1760s up to the present day, the exhibition focuses on Wedgwood’s innovations that transformed an industry and the artists whose vision changed the face of design.
7. Edmund de Waal: On the White Road (2022)
On the White Road, by potter and writer Edmund de Waal (born 1964), tells the complex history of ceramics through four places: Jingdezhen in China, Plymouth in England, Meissen in Germany and Etruria, home of Wedgwood. This collaboration between Wedgwood and the V&A was made in Wedgwood’s factory in Barlaston. The designs show layered notes and sketches in de Waal’s handwriting, reflecting the connected histories of ceramic production and its global influences.
8. People of Wedgwood: bringing the archives to life
The People of Wedgwood project, supported by Art Fund, collects the memories and social history of Wedgwood from current and former employees to enrich our vast collection of objects, manuscripts and photographs. The project gathers personal recollections to help future generations understand and appreciate the many people of Wedgwood. A selection of testimonies is shown in the People of Wedgwood Project Space, a community hub to celebrate and spotlight the people behind the pots.
9. An experimental start: Wedgwood’s trials
Josiah Wedgwood’s experiments with clays and glazes remain a reference point for makers, bringing together the art and science of ceramics. They were the focus of a major loan to the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery for an exhibition by Neil Brownsword as part of 2021’s British Ceramics Biennial.
10. Recycled jasper
From acquiring an example of Wedgwood’s recycled jasper range for the collection, to including waste materials in the redesigned main entrance bathrooms at V&A South Kensington, we have made a splash with eco-friendly materials. These were also the focus of our 2022 display, Earth and Ware: Wedgwood and Nature, and a 2021 collaboration with Staffordshire University, where MA Ceramics students responded to a novel challenge: how would you make ceramics if you could no longer extract materials from the ground? Their solutions included creating clays from spent coffee grounds and growing a kiln from the wonder-material mycelium.
As the V&A Wedgwood Collection includes over 175,000 objects across its collections and archives – with around 20% and counting now available on Explore the Collections and Search the Archives – it has been a challenge to pick the top ten, however it’s also a joyful opportunity to share some of the stories that make this collection so inspiring to work with.
Find out more about our projects and programmes.
The V&A Wedgwood Collection became part of the UK’s national collections in 2014 thanks to the generosity of many individuals and organisations and an extraordinary campaign led by Art Fund. The impact of that campaign showed how many people recognised the importance of Wedgwood in design, manufacture, marketing and much more, and that it can still inspire creativity today.
Here’s to the next ten years!
