Stoke secures precious Wedgwood vase after fundraising campaign hits target

A campaign to ensure a rare piece of pottery made by master potter Josiah Wedgwood remains in Stoke-on-Trent has been successful – just days before a deadline was due to expire.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council and the Friends of the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery had been told they would need to raise the £482,500 purchase price to keep Wedgwood’s First Day’s Vase in the city after it was sold at auction to an oversees buyer. A temporary export bar was placed on it by the Government in December, which was extended until July 14.

The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) stepped in with a grant of up to £267,500 in order to make up the shortfall in the fundraising campaign, which has seen donations from hundreds of members of the public, together with funding bodies including Art Fund and Arts Council/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, and local businesses following its launch earlier this year.

The fundraising target was reached during the week of the 248th anniversary of the vase being made by Josiah Wedgwood’s own hands on the opening day of his factory at Etruria on June 13, 1769.

The city council has been in discussions with the buyer since the export bar was established in order that it may purchase the iconic piece of history and put it back on display at the city centre museum. The offer has now been accepted and arrangements are being made for its return.

Sir Peter Luff, chair of NHMF, said: “A pioneer of the industrial revolution, Josiah Wedgwood remains one of the most significant names in UK ceramics and British industry more widely.

“This incredibly rare vase, thrown by Wedgwood himself, is of exceptional importance to our national heritage. That is why the National Heritage Memorial Fund is so pleased to have been able to step up and help keep the vase in the UK where it was created.”

Ian Lawley, chairman of Friends of the Museum, said: “This is great news, not just for Stoke-on-Trent but for the nation. The support of major funding bodies such as the National Heritage Memorial Fund has been crucial in meeting our target and reflects the historical importance of this iconic vase.

“But we would also like to thank the hundreds of individual donors who have contributed to the appeal. Their generosity has been extraordinary and shows just how much people value their cultural heritage. We would never have been able to save the vase from leaving the UK without the public’s support.”

The First Day’s Vase had been on loan to the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery for 35 years until it was withdrawn by its owner and sold at auction to an overseas buyer last year.

It is one of only four made by Wedgwood that survives from the first day at Etruria.

Two of the other vases are owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum while the third remains in the Wedgwood family.