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THE HISTORY OF BLUE WILLOW I have seen credit given for the willow china pattern given to at least two dissimilar people. One would be Thomas Turner who is said to have introduced the famous design in regarding 1780. The basi copper plate for his design was engraved by Thomas Minton and is still preserved at Coalport China. The most reported story says that the willow design was the creation of Josiah Spode, a derivation of an primary Chinese pattern called Mandarin. Spode developed his willow pattern sometime around 1790. The established willow design always features a huge beauteous Chinese home with a willow tree, little bridge with 3 figures, a modest servants house at the foot of the bridge, a little Chinese boat & of course the widely known and esteemed love birds above the willow tree. The romantic lore of the design could have added to it’s popularity over the years. The story goes something like this……. Long ago, in the days when China was ruled by emperors, a Chinese mandarin, Tso Ling, lived in the magnificent pagoda beneath the segmentations of the apple tree on the right of the bridge, over which droops the widely known and esteemed willow tree, and in front of which is seen the graceful lines of the fence. Tso Ling was the father of a beauteous girl, Kwang-se, who was the promised bride of an old but wealthy merchant. The girl, however, fell in love with Chang, her father’s clerk. The lovers eloped throughout the sea to the cottage on the island. The mandarin pursued and caught the lovers and was regarding to have them killed when the gods transformed them into a pair of turtle doves. These are seen gazing into each other’s eyes at the top of the design. A lengthy and old Staffordshire poem of the pattern concludes with the verse: “In the oft cited plate two birds are perceived, High in the heaven above: These are the spirits of Chang and Kwang-se, A twin pair of ever in love”. Companies That Produce Willow China Due to Spode’s apparent success with the Blue Willow design, many, a heap of pottery & china companies went on to give rise to a good deal of version of it. Here is a list of manufacturers that I am intimate with that produced or still do manufacture Blue Willow. Adams Adderly Alfred Meakin Allerton Barratt Booths Buffalo (restaurantware & hotelware) Burslem Churchill Coalport Cuthbertson Homer Laughlin John Maddox & Sons Johnson Brothers McCoy Pottery Myott Made in China Made in Holland Made in Japan Maruta Moriyama Pottery (Japan) Norcrest Ridgeway Royal China Royal Doulton Royal Wessex Scio Pottery (Ohio) Spode Staffordshire Syracuse China(Restaurantware & Hotelware) Wedgewood Wood & Sons VARIETY OF WILLOW ITEMS As the popularity of Blue Willow grew & grew over the years a great deal of companies start out to make a potpourri of productions to coordinate with the customer’s china pieces. You may find just in regards to anything in Blue Willow including but not fixed to: glassware, wallpaper, linens , tablecloths & towels, flatware & cutlery, picture frames, piggy banks, cookware, enamelware, fabric, tins, needlepoint pillows & kits, planters, candles, switchplates, items for bed & bath, soap dishes, even paper merchandise including paper plated & napkins! Besides a great deal of price guides written to aid collectors, there is a child’s story book entitled BLUE WILLOW by Doris Gates. You might receive pleasure from recipes from The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking. In 2005 there was even an animated short movie made in New Zealand that tells Blue Willow’s story of love & family betrayal. The willow design is also made in red (sometimes called red transferware, or pink willow), green, brown & multicolored. There are a great deal of Blue Willow pieces now being made in China. These are nice pieces to fill in your collection with & much more reasonable than oldfashioned or vintage pieces. There are venders notwithstanding that undertake to pass these newly invented items off as vintage or antique. Be sure you are buying from a reputable sellers.Also be sure what you are buying is in truth blue willow. I have seen Flow Blue, Blue Onion, Blue Calico & other Blue Transferware advertised as Blue Willow. The most priceless Blue Willow items are the early English, Staffordshire & Spode pieces. The Mid Century Made in Japan pieces are growing in popularity as well & may command a good price on strange styles. There are rather a few restaurantware accumulators out there too, so the heavy restaurant weight china normally does well. I hope this has given you a little clear or deep perception into gathering Blue Willow China ~ Have Fun! http://www.nanaluluslinensandhandkerchiefs.com/ |
Not the Bunnykins that I remember
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