‘ Museum Trust: From clay to treasure’ Mar 2021

Brief for Conservation and Curatorial consultant

1. Purpose of the brief

The Trust (SMT) is looking to appoint a suitably qualified individual(s) or organisation to carry out conservation and curatorial consultancy as part of its project ‘Spode Museum Trust: From clay to treasure’.

SMT requires conservation and curatorial expertise to deliver a crucial element of the project: establishing the significance and future needs of the Spode collection.

Ultimately, the role aims to support SMT in developing a robust plan for the future of the Spode collection within the historic factory buildings, allowing better conservation of and access to the collection, and sustainably delivering greater public benefit.

2. Background and context

Spode was a world-renowned that produced iconic ceramics (including fine and other wares) in Stoke-on-Trent from its establishment in 1770 until the factory’s closure in 2008.

Caring for the Spode collection is the charitable purpose of SMT (Reg. Charity No. 519597). The Trust was formed in 1987 to protect the wide range of historic ceramics, production materials and archives. Having always been on its original site, Spode retained the complete working necessities of a large ceramic producer, with all of its records, pattern books, moulds and copper plate hand engravings – making it unique as so little of its working history has been lost.

The Spode collection includes:

• Some 18,000 ceramic items dating from the late 18th Century to 2008 believed to be of local, national and international significance. There are approximately 7000 catalogued/accessioned items and approximately 11,000 other ceramic items which are not accessioned and in need of survey and possible de-accessioning. Particular treasures are SMT’s 600+ blue transferware collection (now held on the Spode site) and examples of more popular interest, including a piece from the dinner set of Charles Dickens and a dinner plate supplied to the Titanic. • 40,000 hand-engraved copperplates used in the decorating process, believed to be unique in its completeness: many other ’ copperplates were sold for scrap or bought by other potteries (in fact, engravings from defunct companies such as Brownfields are included in the Spode collection). • The Spode paper archive, which includes some 70,000 patterns, beautifully recorded in the original pattern books, only some of which is catalogued. • Also of interest are the circa 63,400 moulds used in the casting process, owned by Stoke on Trent City Council (SOTCC), and various tools of the trade and items of furniture owned by SMT.

Seen with the ceramic collection, the moulds, copperplates and paper records constitute a fantastic archive of design, and help make Spode such an integral part of the rich human story of ceramics manufacture in Stoke.

SMT currently runs a small visitor centre, shop and café (circa 3000 visitors pa prior to the pandemic) occupying a building on the former Spode Works site, owned by SOTCC. However, the vast majority of the collection remains at risk:

• A large proportion of the ceramics collection is inaccessible to the public, boxed up and stored in temporary off-site accommodation, together with miscellaneous tools of the trade. The need to rehouse this part of the collection is urgent, due to the planned sale of the facility where it is stored. • The unique, hand-engraved copperplates are stored on site but inaccessible to the public and in urgent need of improved conditions in order to ensure their preservation. • The paper archive is mostly on deposit at Hanley Library with Stoke and Staffordshire Archive Services, and some is held at Keele University; relations with the Archives Services could be improved to promote mutual benefit • In addition, many of the 63,400 moulds under Council ownership face a significant and imminent risk of loss following a review which sees only a small percentage retained

However, SOTCC are embarking upon a programme of regeneration for the former Spode Works site, which is part of Stoke Town Conservation Area and on Historic ’s Heritage at Risk register. SOTCC’s regeneration approach is bringing new audiences and communities of interest to Spode Works.

SMT has already begun to shape a reinvigorated vision around the following principles: • Dynamic – encouraging wide engagement with collections to inspire and shape creative practice • Unique – surviving and intact design and making of world class ceramics since 1770’s on the original factory site/landscape • Connected – looking outward, listening and working closely with local communities, partners • Innovative – reinvigorating industrial heritage through discovery, experiment and encounter

The site already houses artist studios, student accommodation and a pop-up hotel, and is permanent home to The Clay Foundation (see the site masterplan in Annex A). Within this context, the Spode collection and museum have the potential to provide the historic heart of the Spode Works site and be an integral part of its future cultural offer.

As part of their regeneration approach, SOTCC have agreed in principle to lease a number of additional spaces to Spode Museum Trust – an opportunity to provide not just a permanent home for the collection, but also to conserve some of the most significant buildings on the site and maintain their connection with Spode’s ceramic heritage.

However, a robust - as well as creative and dynamic - proposition needs to be fully developed, one which articulates the needs of the collection, the buildings, market demand and the wants and needs of the local community and communities of interest, and evaluates how and where this is best met.

Within this context, SMT’s overall ambitions are to (re)unite the collection on site and enable better conservation and interpretation of and access to the collection; and to develop a ‘hands on’ offer, complementing the other offers on the wider Spode Works site, and sharing and conserving the skills, knowledge and experiences of former workers for future generations, while improving the sustainability of SMT’s operations.

More information about SMT can be found online at http://www.spodemuseumtrust.org/.

3. The project

Spode Museum Trust has been working in partnership with the National Trust’s External Partnerships Team to understand the threat and opportunity facing the collection.

Now, with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and in partnership with the National Trust, Spode Museum Trust is launching a project to identify a future for the collection within the historic buildings at Spode Works’ core – one which allows better conservation and access, delivers greater public benefit, and is sustainable.

The project will take Spode Museum Trust through a strategic process to:

• Establish the significance and needs of the collection • Identify opportunities to open up access to the collection to meet the needs of multiple users • Understand the current audience and market context and wants and needs of the community and communities of interest • Establish the proposition for the Spode collection on the Spode Works site and carry out an appraisal of options, considering how Spode Museum Trust can deliver its charitable mission on site or off • Understand the likely scale of investment required for buildings Spode Museum Trust occupies or could occupy. • Identify how SMT needs to develop in terms of its governance and operation, including to deliver the emerging preferred option

The project will be punctuated by three ‘Spode Summits’ where key stakeholders will be invited to help steer the project, giving people more opportunities to participate in the collection’s future.

This brief forms one of six key work packages which are:

1. Project management and coordination of Spode Summits (National Trust appointed) 2. Conservation and curatorial consultancy 3. Architectural consultancy 4. Options Appraisal 5. Governance and operational consultancy (Sara Hilton appointed) 6. Evaluation

In parallel with this project, audiences and marketing consultancy Palmer Squared have been appointed to advise on an audience development strategy.

More detail on the proposed process, including the scope of the Spode Summits, is given in the project work plan, Annex C.

4. Conservation and curatorial consultancy

SMT requires conservation and curatorial expertise to help establish the relative significance of and produce a statement of significance for the collection and to provide a report on the collection’s management, access and storage needs, with a view to informing options for its future conservation and management.

Elements of the collection to be included within the scope of the commission, their locations, and available resources are outlined below. Access to all elements of the collection should be arranged via SMT.

Collection Details / location Notes and additional resources

Ceramics Small amount on site, on On-site collection includes the ‘blue display, in existing museum collection’ buildings (Annex B, buildings 2A, 2B, 2D, 2E) Collection at Tunstall packed in range of storage boxes with items of excessive size Large amount off site, in being unboxed and some trays of loose storage, at Tunstall Library, material Stoke on Trent

Accession register for ceramics collection available (Annex D) but incomplete due to hasty removal of collection on factory closure and some pieces stored in various areas of the factory never formally being accessioned

Due for removal to Spode site as soon as storage is agreed in 2021.

Paper archives Large amount off site in Stoke Collection at Hanley includes and Staffordshire Archives • Pattern Safe material (7.5m3) Services (Hanley Library, Stoke • Robert Copeland’s Papers (2m3) on Trent) • Catalogues and Promotional material (1.5m3) • Museum Research Files (3m3) • The Design Library and other printed material (2m3) • other material not in those categories (including oversize material; maps and plans) (6m3) • Photographic and Glass plate material (2.5m3)

Most of the Pattern Safe material is catalogued to an archival professional standard using dedicated software and available via online catalogue. Of the remainder, some is accessioned into the system so a fairly good item level description exists, but some is completely uncatalogued

Small amount off site at Keele 700 items from 18th-20th c including University agreements, pricelists, technical and pictorial material. Indexes available (Annex E and Annex F)

Several filing cabinets of papers These contain the papers of the former on site Spode Museum Curator. Also part of the Spencer Copeland Archive (the bulk of which was donated to Staffordshire Archives) catalogued by volunteers from the Arts Society.

Copperplates Large amount in storage on site, in secure basement

Small amount on site, on display, in existing museum visitor gallery and blue room (Annex B, buildings 2A, 2B, 2D, 2E)

All other tools, Some on site, on display, in machinery, items of existing museum buildings furniture, and (Annex B, buildings 2A, 2B, 2D, manufacturing artefacts 2E) owned by SMT Some (including spring moulds, tools and other artefacts) in storage off site at Tunstall Library, Stoke on Trent

Barring a few examples, the mould collection is not owned by SMT, but SOTCC. However, work is being carried out separately to map out the future of SOTCC’s moulds. Research has been carried out by SOTCC to assess the significance of the 63,500 SOTCC-owned moulds and determine a retention policy. Initial findings suggest that the default disposal option should be transfer of the moulds to a museum or other organisation within the public domain.

For reference, SMT has also been in discussions with the holder of a private collection of ‘four container- loads’ of moulds, early tools and other artefacts in Eastfield (Texas, USA), taken from the site at the time of its closure and believed to be of historic significance, with a view to repatriation of this collection.

Within this context, SMT declares an interest in the mould collection and therefore would like outline options for their future conservation to be considered as part of this commission.

4.1 Conservation Statement

Based on a snapshot survey of each element of the collection, the consultant will be required to develop a Conservation Statement for the Spode collection. The Conservation Statement should:

• Provide a headline/snapshot inventory of the collection • Make an assessment of its relative significance and to whom, brought together in a Statement of Significance • Review existing collections management, care policies and procedures, documentation and cataloguing procedures and provide recommendations to further develop these. • Identify key management and conservation risks, issues and opportunities • Appraise the management and conservation options for each element of the collection, including exploring options for providing not just physical but also intellectual access to the collection in future (e.g. through digitisation); and assess the heritage impact • Establish conservation objectives for the collection • Establish the need for any further research or surveys

A suggested format for a Conservation Statement is included in Annex G. The statement of significance and collection report should be informed by sector best practise, including the Collections Trust guidance ‘Reviewing Significance 3.0’ and UCL’s Collections Review Toolkit. It should also be borne in mind that SMT intend to work towards ACE museum accreditation.

Additionally, through this work we would like the consultant to:

• develop an outline plan for how the collection might be catalogued and conserved going forwards (giving thought to resource requirements and referencing best practice), with ballpark timeline and budget to undertake this; and • develop an outline specification for storage requirements in terms of spatial requirements and environmental or other conditions, supporting the spatial feasibility work led by the Options Appraisal consultant as required. NB. An early indication of the basic specification required in order to return the ceramics collection to the Spode Works is required as a priority.

We are open to your ideas about the process for developing this crucial piece of work, and would welcome your thoughts about how the process could be opened out to involve participation of local communities and wider communities of interest e.g. through an open and participatory ‘Spode Challenge’ or volunteering.

Deliverables: Conservation Statement including Statement of Significance, Plan for cataloguing and conservation, conservation management plan, Outline specification for storage requirements, Collections development policy

4.2 Spode Summits

To support SMT in developing a robust plan for the future of the Spode collection within the historic core of the Spode Works site, it is proposed that the project is punctuated by a series of Spode Summits at key project milestones.

The Conservation and Curatorial Consultant will be required to participate in the three Spode Summits, which will be coordinated by the Project Manager, to ensure effective communication between the project work packages and to secure the best possible outcomes for the project.

Deliverables: Input into Spode Summits

5. Anticipated timescales

Action Date Invitation to Tender issued w/c 15 Mar 2021 Deadline for clarifications (17:00 PM) Fri 9 Apr Deadline for bids (17:00 PM) Fri 16 Apr Contract award w/c 26 Apr Project inception meeting and contract start date w/c 3 May Conservation Statement completed By Fri 16 Jul Report of risks and issues, Specification for storage requirements completed By Fri 16 Jul Input into Spode Summits Jul, Sept & Nov 2021

6. Budget

The maximum budget for this work package is £24,000 inclusive of VAT and expenses.

7. Proposal 7.1 Tender requirements

SMT would like to invite suitably qualified consultants to submit proposals to deliver services in line with the brief above. Proposals should include: • Proposed methodology, programme and timescales • Details of relevant experience of working on similar projects • CV of the candidate/organisation, including two references • Detailed budget for this work, showing a breakdown of fees and allocation of time for each member of the consultant’s team, including the consultant’s day rate, expenses, and VAT • Details of Public Liability, Employer’s Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance

Images, plans or any other form of graphical illustrations may be used help to illustrate your proposal.

Proposals should be submitted by email to [email protected] by 17:00 PM on Fri 16 April 2021. PDF format is preferred.

This is an open submission, with no incumbent candidate.

7.2 Tender evaluation

The tender proposal and interview will be scored 0-10 on the following basis:

Score Classification Characteristics Exemplary response. Comprehensive and relevant information is provided 9-10 Excellent and the response exceeds required standards in all respects. The bid also provides something of additional benefit or innovation. Comprehensive and relevant information is provided and the response 7-8 Good meets the required standards in a number of respects and exceeds the required standards in one or two respects. A broad response with an adequate level of information provided that is 5-6 Satisfactory relevant and meets the required standard. The response is limited and lacking in relation to a large proportion of 3-4 Poor material elements and only partially meets the required standards. No response or extremely limited response that does not meet the required 0-2 Unacceptable standard.

A weighting will be applied to the scores as follows:

Evaluation criteria Weighting (%) Understanding of the brief 25 Methodology including implementation 25 Skills and experience 25 Cost 25

8. Further information

For further information about SMT or the project, contact Richard Gray on [email protected], or Ellie Ralphs on [email protected] or 07824 434 132.

To arrange a site visit in advance of your submission, contact Ellie Ralphs on [email protected] or 07824 434 132.