Stoke-on-Trent is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles (93 km2). In 2022, the city had an estimated population of 259,965. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surrounded by the towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Alsager, Kidsgrove and Biddulph, which form a conurbation around the city.
Spode is an English brand of pottery and homewares produced in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Spode was founded by Josiah Spode (1733–1797) in 1770, and was responsible for perfecting two important techniques that were crucial to the worldwide success of the English pottery industry in the 19th century: transfer printing on earthenware and bone china.
The Midwinter Pottery was founded as W.R. Midwinter by William Robinson Midwinter in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent in 1910 and had become one of England's largest potteries by the late 1930s with more than 700 employees. Production of Midwinter pottery ceased in 1987.
Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapidly successful and was soon one of the largest manufacturers of Staffordshire pottery, "a firm that has done more to spread the knowledge and enhance the reputation of British ceramic art than any other manufacturer", exporting across Europe as far as Russia, and to the Americas. It was especially successful at producing fine earthenware and stoneware that were accepted as equivalent in quality to porcelain but were considerably cheaper.
Portmeirion is a British pottery company based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. They specialise in earthenware tableware.
Thomas Minton (1765–1836) was an English potter. He founded Thomas Minton & Sons in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, which grew into a major ceramic manufacturing company with an international reputation.
Johnson Brothers was a British tableware manufacturer and exporter that was noted for its early introduction of "semi-porcelain" tableware. It was among the most successful Staffordshire potteries which produced tableware, much of it exported to the United States, from the 1890s through to the 1960s. They were also important manufacturers of large bathroom ceramics. Some of its designs, such as "Eternal Beau", "Dawn", "Old Britain Castles" and "Historic America", achieved widespread popularity and are still collected today. The company's success was due in part to its ability to identify and follow trends that appealed to its customers in the United States, and in part to the high quality of its designs, produced by skilled artists.
Mintons was a major company in Staffordshire pottery, "Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era", an independent business from 1793 to 1968. It was a leader in ceramic design, working in a number of different ceramic bodies, decorative techniques, and "a glorious pot-pourri of styles - Rococo shapes with Oriental motifs, Classical shapes with Medieval designs and Art Nouveau borders were among the many wonderful concoctions". As well as pottery vessels and sculptures, the firm was a leading manufacturer of tiles and other architectural ceramics, producing work for both the Houses of Parliament and United States Capitol.
Twyford Bathrooms is a manufacturer of bathroom fixtures based in Alsager, Cheshire, England.
The Paragon China Company was a British manufacturer of bone china from 1919 to 1960, based in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, previously known as the Star China Company, and more recently part of the Royal Doulton group. Paragon was noted for producing high quality teaware and tableware, and was granted royal warrants of appointment by several members of the British Royal Family.
The Clayburn Pottery was an English pottery works based in Milner St, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.
Dorothy Jessie Tait was a prolific English ceramic designer working in the Stoke-on-Trent pottery industries, most prominently for Midwinter, from the 1940s to the 1980s.
Carlton Ware was a pottery manufacturer based in Stoke-on-Trent. The company is known for its tableware, often in the form of highly decorated leaves or fruit, and the ceramic toucans it made as promotional items for Guinness. It produced hand-painted domestic pottery in high art deco styles during the 1920s and 1930s.
Dudson is a British company that manufactured tableware, glassware and porcelain, in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. It is one of the oldest brands of its industry in England, founded in 1800.
Meakin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Franciscan Ceramics are ceramic tableware and tile products produced by Gladding, McBean & Co. in Los Angeles, California, US from 1934 to 1962, International Pipe and Ceramics (Interpace) from 1962 to 1979, and Wedgwood from 1979 to 1983. Wedgwood closed the Los Angeles plant, and moved the production of dinnerware to England in 1983. Waterford Glass Group plc purchased Wedgwood in 1986, becoming Waterford Wedgwood. KPS Capital Partners acquired all of the holdings of Waterford Wedgwood in 2009. The Franciscan brand became part of a group of companies known as WWRD, an acronym for "Wedgwood Waterford Royal Doulton." WWRD continues to produce the Franciscan patterns Desert Rose and Apple.
W H Grindley was an English pottery company that made earthenware and ironstone tableware, including flow blue. The company was founded in 1880 by William Harry Grindley, JP of Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent.
The Ridgway family was one of the important dynasties manufacturing Staffordshire pottery, with a large number of family members and business names, over a period from the 1790s to the late 20th century. In their heyday in the mid-19th century there were several different potteries run by different branches of the family. Most of their wares were earthenware, but often of very high quality, but stoneware and bone china were also made. Many earlier pieces were unmarked and identifying them is difficult or impossible. Typically for Staffordshire, the various businesses, initially set up as partnerships, changed their official names rather frequently, and often used different trading names, so there are a variety of names that can be found.
Millicent (Millie) Jane Taplin (1902–1980) was a British designer and painter of ceramics who spent most of her career at Josiah Wedgwood and Sons (1917–1962). She was trained in painting by Alfred and Louise Powell, and supervised Wedgwood's ceramics painters. She became a designer of decorative patterns in 1929 and by the mid-to-late 1930s was one of the company's main designers, although she did not design pottery shapes. She was one of only two working-class women to become a successful ceramics designer before the Second World War. Her tableware designs were exhibited by Wedgwood at Grafton Galleries in London in 1936, and several of her designs are now on display at the V&A Museum. Her design "Strawberry Hill", with Victor Skellern, was awarded the Council of Industrial Design's Design of the Year Award in 1957.
Alfred Meakin Ltd Pottery was a British company that produced earthenware and semi-porcelain tableware, tea sets, and toilet ware from 1875 to 1976. The company was founded by Alfred Meakin, the brother of James and George Meakin who ran a large pottery company in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. Alfred Meakin operated from the Royal Albert, Victoria, and Highgate Potteries in Tunstall and later acquired the Newfield Pottery and the Furlong Mill. The company was known for its ironstone china and white granite ware, which were exported to many countries, especially the USA. The company also made decorative wares with various patterns and shapes, such as Bamboo, Fishhook, Chelsea, and Bleu de Roi. The company was bought by Robert Johnson, Alfred's uncle, for his son Stuart Johnson in 1908, and remained in the Johnson family until 1976, when it became part of Myott-Meakin and later Churchill Group A tile from 1901 is held by the British Museum and a dinner service is held by Canterbury Museum and work is in the National Trust Art collection. Work is held by the Science Museum Group and the V&A.
