LONDON, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Wedgwood Pottery is as important to Britain as Ming Dynasty vases are to China's cultural heritage. And Friday in an area of Northern England known as The Potteries, they were raising their Wedgwood ceramic cups to toast a major success.
The Wedgwood Collection - one of the most important industrial archives in the world - has been saved for the nation.
Threatened with being split up and sold by public auction, the potential sale of the 250-years old collection, sent shock waves around the world.
The Collection contains over 80,000 works of art, ceramics, manuscripts and letters, pattern books and photographs covering the history of the famous Wedgwood company, founded by Josiah Wedgwood in the 1760s.
The threat prompted a world-wide appeal for help and with weeks to spare the fundraisers on Friday announced their target of 15.75 million pounds needed to save the collection has been reached.
The plan is to give the whole collection to the V&A, the Victoria and Albert National Museum in London. But the collection will remain on display in its traditional home, the Wedgwood Museum in Barlaston, near Stoke-on-Trent.
Unesco has described the Wedgwood Collection as "one of the most complete ceramic manufacturing archives in existence. Unparalleled in its diversity and breadth, embracing every imaginable subject from pots to people, transport to trade, society and social conditions."
Around 7,500 people made donations following the launch of the appeal on September 1, with almost 11 million pounds (17.5 million U.S. dollars) coming from the Britain's Heritage Lottery Fund.
More than 80 academics from around the world joined calls to save the Wedgwood Museum collection.
Representatives from universities in countries ranging from Britain, the United States, Argentina and the Far East said it would be a "disaster" if the collection was broken up, fell into private hands or was sold overseas.
A sudden rush of big donations in the past week completed the target, ahead of a November deadline.
Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund, said: "This amazing show of public support for the Wedgwood Collection has made this the fastest fundraising campaign in our 111-year history. It demonstrates nothing less than a national passion for Wedgwood - its history, its quality, its brand, its continuity - bringing about a potent combination of donations big and small, ranging from 10 pounds gifts via text to six-figure cheques."
The threat to the Wedgwood Collection started in 2009 when the Wedgwood Museum went into administration after the museum's owner, Waterford Wedgwood Potteries went bust. The High Court ruled last December that the collection could be sold to help plug a 134 million pounds pension fund gap linked to the collapse of Wedgwood in 2009.
