Dr Simon Spier is a curator and historian of the decorative arts. He joined the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Decorative Art and Sculpture Department in 2021 and in September 2022 was appointed Curator, Ceramics and Glass 1600-1800. Prior to this Simon completed an AHRC-funded doctorate that explored the intersection of private collectors and the art market in the formation of applied arts museums during the second half of the nineteenth century, using the archive at The Bowes Museum as a case-study. Whilst working with The Bowes Museum he worked on a number of exhibitions including ‘SOLD! The Great British Antiques Story’ (2019). He has an MA in History of Art (British Art) from the University of York, where he was the Friends of York Art Gallery Research Scholar in 2013-14.
At the V&A Simon is working on a display of the Willett Collection of British pottery borrowed from Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, due to open in Autumn 2023. He maintains a strong interest in the history of collecting, and ongoing projects include contributing a chapter to a forthcoming Bloomsbury series the Cultural History of Collecting, contributing a co-authored entry on John and Joséphine Bowes for the National Gallery’s online Dictionary of British Art Collectors 1600-1939 and a longer-term research project on collectors of British pottery and the formation of British ceramic histories.
