Academic appeal to save the Wedgwood

We are concerned at the threat to the Wedgwood Museum and Archive as an integrated collection in the UK ( Royal Academy's call to save Wedgwood Museum , 16 February). The threatened sale could result in the collection being broken up, passing into private hands, or going overseas. Each of these outcomes would be a disaster for Britain's industrial and artistic heritage. The Wedgwood Museum preserves the design, production, organisational and social histories of one of the world's leading ceramics manufacturers and is recognised by Unesco as being of outstanding international importance. It represents a flagship collection for the history of British consumer goods industries; a testimony to one of the most brilliant designers, technologists, and industrial artists of the 18th century; and a key part of Britain's industrial and artistic heritage. In contrast to the high priority and profile given to campaigns to save paintings for the nation, this important collection appears to be neglected by an art establishment which seems more interested in individual, high-priced works by overseas painters than in saving the artistic legacy of Josiah Wedgwood and the numerous artists and craftsmen who worked for Wedgwood from the 18th to the 20th centuries. For a country that prides itself as leading the world in creative industries and in producing high-quality art for a broad market, this seems to be an unfortunate set of priorities. Peter Scott Professor of international business history, Henley Business School at the University of Reading Andrew Popp University of Liverpool Management School Fred Anderson Indiana University of Pennsylvania Bridie Andrews Bentley University, Massachusetts Maria Ines Barbero Director, Centro de Estudios de Historia y Desarrollo de Empresas, Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina Bernardo Batiz-Lazo Professor of business history and bank management, Bangor University Mark Billings University of Exeter Alan Booth University of Exeter Gordon Evelyn Boyce Ludovic Cailluet Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale, Dunkerque Angus Cameron Leicester University School of Management Martin Campbell-Kelly University of Warwick Ann M Carlos Professor of economics, University of Colorado, Boulder D'Maris Coffman Director, Centre for Financial History, University of Cambridge Stephanie Decker Aston Business School Tolera Zelalem Desalegn University of Milan Colin Divall Professor of Railway Studies, University of York Linda Edgerly Director, The Winthrop Group Inc Jari Eloranta Appalachian State University Judy Faraday John Lewis Partnership Archives Jeff Fear University of Redlands, California Susanna Fellman Professor of Business History, University of Gothenburg José Luis Fernández Fernández Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Spain Dale L Flesher Arthur Andersen alumni professor and associate dean, Patterson School of Accountancy, University of Mississippi Andrew Godley Professor of management & business history, Henley Business School at the University of Reading Terry Gourvish (London School of Economics), President, Association of Business Historians David Hancock Professor of History, University of Michigan Daryl M Hafter (Eastern Michigan University), former president, Society for the History of Technology Per H Hansen (Copenhagen Business School), President-elect, Business History Conference Barbara Hahn Texas Tech University Roger Horowitz (University of Michigan), Secretary-treasurer, Business History Conference Jane Humphries (University of Oxford), President, Economic History Society Karen Hunt Professor of Modern British History, Keele University Richard R John Professor of journalism, Columbia University Florent Le Bot ENS de Cachan, Paris Luis de León Molina Bilbao, Spain Yongdo Kim Hosei University, Tokyo Nancy F Koehn James Robison professor of business administration, Harvard Business School Berti Kolbow Institute of Economic and Social History, Goettingen University Elisabeth Koll Harvard Business School Theodore P Kovaleff Columbia University Naomi R Lamoreaux Professor of economics and history, Yale University Daniela La Penna University of Reading Margaret Levenstein (University of Michigan), Past president, Business History Conference Stephen Linstead Professor of critical management, University of York Ken Lipartito (Florida International University), President, Business History Conference Katey Logan Business Archives Council Niall G MacKenzie Head of research, Institute for Innovation Studies, University of Wales Global Academy John J McCusker Ewing Halsell distinguished professor of American history and professor of economics, Trinity University, Texas José Miguel Martínez-Carrión Professor of economic history, University of Murcia Anette Mikes Harvard Business School Stephen Mihm University of Georgia Elena Moran Stephen L Morgan (University of Nottingham), Editor-in-chief, The Australian Economic History Review Marina Moskowitz University of Glasgow Alistair Mutch Professor of information and learning, Nottingham Trent University Simon P Newman Sir Denis Brogan professor of American history, University of Glasgow Shigehiro Nishimura London School of Economics Richard Ovenden Bodleian Library, Oxford Mary Quek University of Hertfordshire Veronique Pouillard University of Oslo Michael Rowlinson Professor of organization studies, Queen Mary, University of London Mary Rose Lancaster University Management School Elena Laruelo Rueda National Institute of Industry Historical Archive, Madrid Thomas Max Safley Professor of early modern European history, University of Pennsylvania Marianne Schmitz German Historical Institute, Washington M Stephen Salmon Senior business archivist, Library and Archives Canada Andrew Smith Coventry University Merritt Roe Smith Cutten professor of the history of technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Anna Spadavecchia Henley Business School at the University of Reading Uwe Spiekermann Deputy director, German Historical Institute, Washington, DC Marc Stern Bentley University, Massachusetts James Sumner University of Manchester Stefan Schwarzkopf Copenhagen Business School Kevin D Tennent University of York Paul Thommes Aachen University Steven Tolliday (University of Leeds), Past president, Business History Conference James Walker Henley Business School at the University of Reading Eugene N White Professor of economics, Rutgers University Daniel A Wren David Ross Boyd professor emeritus, University of Oklahoma Robert E Wright Nef Family chair of political economy, Augustana College, South Dakota