Museums And Archives

Beyond Wedgwood: Discovering the Wider Ceramics Stories within the V&A Wedgwood Collection.

In 2014, the Wedgwood Collection, one of the most historically significant ceramics collections in the world comprising over 175,000 items, was saved for the nation and taken into the V&A’s care after a fundraising campaign led by Art Fund and supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Within the Collection are approximately 60,000 items from the archives of the subsidiary companies acquired by the Wedgwood Company which now urgently need cataloguing and digitising. These iconic Staffordshire brands, including Susie Cooper, Johnson’s, Mason’s, Coalport and Midwinter, form a core part of the V&A Wedgwood Collection and tell a story ‘Beyond Wedgwood’. ‘Beyond Wedgwood’ represents a further development in the V&A’s commitment to making the breadth of the V&A Wedgwood Collection available for future generations. Through new staff posts and a comprehensive programme of engagement activities with local communities and partner organisations, we will bring new meaning to the wider Potteries story.