I am FINALLY going to actually start porcelain posting as I haven't indulged my special interest in a hot minute and I need some joy in my life right now
Willow Blue! One of the most recognizable blue-and-white porcelain patterns out there, Willow certainly wasn't the first nor the last, but it has become sort of the baseline for this style, known as Chinoiserie: Western designs meant to evoke 18th-century Chinese aesthetics.
China was the first to produce what is known as hard-paste porcelain, a formula that is more durable and can withstand higher firing temperatures while still retaining thin walls and small, intricate details within the molding. Soft-paste porcelain, on the other hand, is less durable and more prone to collapsing in the kiln or breaking after firing, and didn't retain a smooth, shiny finish as well as hard-paste. This difference meant Chinese export porcelain skyrocketed in popularity, and with it, Chinese designs and aesthetics at the time.
(Eventually Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony hired a man who claimed to be able to turn lead to gold to help him find the secret ingredient for hard-paste porcelain and, surprisingly, he actually found it! Kaolin, a soft, white clay, not only strengthened the porcelain paste but gave it a nice white finish. Good job, alchemist guy.)
While relatively new compared to the history of blue-and-white porcelain, Willow comes from a long history of imitating older Chinese designs to appeal to the market. Dutch studios produced earthenware with a white glaze atop and blue details to mimic this effect, and became widely popular, resulting in a boom of Dutch wares known as Delft. (Much like champagne, Real Delft (with a capital D) is only the earthenware produced within the city of Delft, while delft-lowercase-d is used for dutch-inspired blue-and-whiteware not originating from Delft. thus the cycle of imitation completes itself. borrowing from others is basically the entire history of porcelain, after all.)
While not 100% confirmed, most say Willow was designed by Thomas Minton in the late 1700s, who eventually ended up employed by Spode, a popular porcelain production company that somewhat still exists today! They merged with Royal Worchester in 2006, and patterns are still being produced now under the Spode name. (Spode has an interesting history all their own, including the invention of Bone China, but I'll leave that for a different post.)
Due to the pattern's popularity, there are countless variations, but most usually contain the same prominent features: willow trees (of course), a large, central building, a bridge with figures atop it, and two birds flying above. Also some form of intricately patterned border, though not all pieces include this part. It was also produced in a wide variety of colors, but because the iconic blue-and-white color palette was so popular, you'll mostly see the blue version.
If you ever find yourself walking through an antiques or consignment store, keep an eye out for patterns that look like this, you'll probably find more than a few!
(The picture is of my own Willow pieces from my collection. The small, brown dish is a soup bowl that was meant for restaurant use! The walls are intentionally much thicker to withstand regular use, and some of the pattern is worn off as well. The larger dish is some sort of serving platter I believe, kindly gifted to me by a friend.)
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