Ceramics
Historic background to collections
The origins of the ceramics collection go back to 1835 when the Mechanics’ Institute in Hanley received a gift of pottery from the 
manufacturer and collector, Enoch Wood. The aim of the Institute was to create "a depot of the best specimens of porcelain manufacture, obtained from all countries where excellence could be found". By 1847, the town of Stoke-upon-Trent also had a museum called The Athenaeum, whose purpose was to"create museum containing specimens illustrative of the rise, progress and present position of the Potters’ Art".The first museum to be publicly funded was the Wedgwood Institute in Burslem which opened in 1869 and was dedicated to the "industry, genius and virtue" of Josiah Wedgwood. Its first collections were of 18th century wares attributed to Wedgwood and his contemporaries During the course of the evolution of the six towns into the City of Stoke-on-Trent, these museums and other smaller ceramic collections were amalgamated to form the foundation for future collecting.
Collections
Stoke-on-Trent Museums Service houses the finest collection of Staffordshire ceramics anywhere
in the world, reflecting the City’s heritage as the centre of the English ceramics industry. It also
includes the most comprehensive collection of British 20th century studio ceramics. The ceramics
collection is recognised as the most important of the collections held by Stoke-on-Trent Museums
Service. It is central to a visitor’s perception of the Potteries’ products and skills as well as
engendering pride and a sense of place.
20th – 21st Century studio pottery
The largest collection of studio pottery in the country.
The Bergen Collection of Pioneer Studio Pottery, the Pinchen Collection and the Lindridge
Collection of post-war studio pottery are particular highlights. There is also a good collection
of works by Alan Caiger-Smith.
Contemporary ceramics
The nationally significant Contemporary Art Society Special Collection has developed since
1999 through lottery funding from Arts Council England. It focuses on ground breaking artists
whose work challenges traditional divisions between ceramics, fine art and textiles with relevance
to existing collection strengths. It includes examples by Grayson Perry, Richard Slee and
Carol McNicoll.
Minton wares
Recent major acquisitions have enhanced the collection of important
exhibition pieces, including examples from the former Minton Museum. Significant
international designers are represented including August Pugin, Louis Solon, Joseph
Arnoux and Christopher Dresser. It is complemented by an archive of designs by Louis
Solon.
Figures
A large and representative collection of figures from the mid 18th to mid 20th
century with many factories covered. The Elizabeth Marianne Wood Collection of 18th and
19th century figures and the Pugh Collection of Victorian Staffordshire portrait figures are
particularly significant, as are the Keiler Collection of Cow-Creamers and the Davies
Collection of Frog Mugs. There is also the Sheldon gift of post-war Royal Doulton figures.
Printed pottery
Blue and full-colour printed wares from the 19th century, forming the best
collections of multi-coloured printed wares in the country.
Early 19th century porcelain
Mason, New Hall, Ridgway and many other manufacturers.
18th century stonewares
The salt-glazed stoneware collection acquired from descendants
of the Wood family is a highly important group as it is strongly associated with the factory
Wedgwood family of the Big House Burslem.
18th century lead-glazed wares
Predominantly the Hulme and Carltich Collections supported by other smaller holdings
17th and 18th century slipwares
A fine collection of extant pieces, including inscribed examples with dates, supported
by excavated wares from the City. One of the key works, and iconic symbol for
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, is the rare late 17th century Staffordshire slipware
owl jug.
Near Eastern and Islamic ceramics
An important collection of wares from the 8th century onwards from Iran, Turkey, Egypt
and Moorish Spain.
Italian maiolica
One of the best collections in the country alongside the Victoria & Albert Museum, British
Museum and Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Other significant collections
These include Far Eastern porcelains and stonewares, South American earthenwares,
Mediterranean antiquities, wares produced by the Stoke-on-Trent Schools of Art,
19th century earthenwares, early 20th century crested wares, 19th century lustred
wares, art pottery, and national and local commemorative wares from the
18th to 21st centuries.
