Josiah Spode I

1 portrait

Josiah Spode I, by Unknown artist, circa 1790-1795 -NPG 4586 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue

Josiah Spode I

by Unknown artist
circa 1790-1795
3 in. x 2 3/8 in. (76 mm x 60 mm) oval
NPG 4586

This portraitback to top

Apparently the unique image of Spode I. The identity is based on the provenance, and the apparent age of the sitter in relation to the apparent date of the miniature; the existence of two versions, differing only in detail, in the Spode Museum, Stoke-on-Trent, [1] is also reassuring.

Footnotesback to top

1) Letter from L. R. Whiter, Spode Museum, 28 September 1967 (NPG archive); one illus. A. Hayden, Spode and his Successors, 1925, f.p.16, and in the Museum guide, Tradition-Spode-Copeland, 1960, pl.7.

Physical descriptionback to top

Grey eyes, grey hair, wearing a yellow waistcoat and dark grey coat.

Provenanceback to top

By descent to Josiah Spode IV (d. 1893) of Hawkesyard House1, who bequeathed his estate to the Dominican Order; transferred to Woodchester Priory, whence acquired by B. Weinreb, from whom purchased 1967.2

1 Cf. A. Hayden, Spode and his Successors, 1925, p 19.
2 Provenance from a note supplied by Weinreb in 1967.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.