By the early 1820s, his factory, now managed by his son Josiah Spode II and his business partner William Copeland, had become the largest in Stoke, employing some 2,000 workers and boasting 22 bottle ovens.
The Spode factory occupied some 90 buildings on a 9 acres (3.6 ha) site and such was the amount of space available that over the years many thousands of items that might otherwise have been thrown out were simply put into store.
This step was taken to protect the collection in perpetuity irrespective of whatever economic misfortunes the Spode company might suffer in the future.
It also includes a "paper" archive of some ¼ million documents and early photographs, of which the most important are the 70,000 hand-painted watercolour images of every pattern produced since around 1800.
In addition, some 25,000 engraved copper plates, used as the basis for printed wares, dating back from the 1790s and recognised to be the largest collection of its type in the world.