Louise Weldon of the Spode Design Department designed the patterns. Although modern in design they have an exotic feel and are reminiscent of 1920s and 1930s designs in the Spode Museum archive. At this period many designs were influenced by the orient, were richly coloured and used the whole surface of the object - not just a simple border pattern.

Louise cleverly combined the old style with the new. The surface design of Java and Sumatra was applied to new shapes from Spode which cross the boundary between useful and ornamental wares. So for example you could use one of the bowls to hold potpourri or you could serve pasta in it at the table. A vase could hold elegant flowers or bread sticks!

The Oriental influence can clearly be seen in the use of Humming Birda and other exotic specimens in both collections. These highly coloured motifs is what makes both these patterns so distinctive and highly collectable around the world.

We are grateful to the Spode Museum in producing this account of Spode's Stafford Flowers pattern.