Pay for a piece of Staffordshire china (6)
I believe the answer is:
afford
'pay' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'a piece of staffordshire china' is the wordplay.
'a piece of' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'AFFORD' is hidden within 'staffordshire china'.
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for afford that I've seen before include "Yield!" , "Have the financial means" , "Provide; be able to pay for" , "Have the means to pay" , "Give, provide" .)