Willow pattern

It became popular at the end of the 18th century in England when, in its standard form, it was developed by English ceramic artists combining and adapting motifs inspired by fashionable hand-painted blue-and-white wares imported from Qing dynasty China.

Many different Chinese-inspired landscape patterns were at first produced in this way, both on bone china or porcellanous wares, and on white earthenware or pearlware.

[2] Thomas Lucas and his printer James Richards left Caughley in c. 1783 to work for Josiah Spode,[3] who produced many early Chinese-inspired transferwares during the 1780s and 1790s.

Thomas Minton left Caughley in 1785 and set up on his own account in c. 1793 in Stoke-on-Trent producing earthenwares: he is thought to have engraved versions of willow designs for Spode and for various other factories.

A path through the garden leads to the front of the scene and is crossed by a fence of diapered panels set zig-zag fashion across the foreground.

On its left side the garden forms an irregular and indented bank into the water, from the foreground of which a large branching willow tree with four clusters of three leafy fronds leans out.

Above and beyond this the water (shown white) forms an open expanse, with a boat at the centre left containing two little house-like cabins, propelled by a figure with a punt-pole aforeships.

It is the inclusion of the bridge, the garden fence, the central pair of birds, and the particular details of the pavilions and surrounding trees, in this arrangement, which together characterize the English Willow pattern in its standard form.

In order to promote sales of Minton's Willow pattern, various stories were invented based on the elements of the design.

In 1992, Barry Purves made a short animated film relating the story, transplanted to Japan and entitled Screen Play.

Another old poem from late nineteenth century Shropshire is: Two swallows flying high, A little boat passing by, A little bridge, with willows over, Three men going to Dover, Now Dover church stands very bare, Twice a week they worship there, A little tree with apples on, And plaited palings in the sun Scottish version: Twa little birdies flying high, A little boatie sailing by; Three mannies ga'en to Dover, A willow tree hangin' over; A kirkie stannin' fair, Mony gang tae worship there; An aipple tree win aipples on't, An' a iron railin a' along't.

[7] In addition to being used on camera to evoke a 19th-century atmosphere in several American western movies (as well as western television shows, and even the comedy, The Munsters), Blue Willow china is also featured in The Andy Griffith Show and Murder, She Wrote, suggesting a contemporary time or setting when life was simpler.

[11] The eponymous Blue Willow plate, a gift from her great-grandmother, is the prized possession of Janey Larkin, the young daughter of a migrant worker family.

In Terry Pratchett's novel Interesting Times, an oriental artist is about to paint (on a plate) a picture of a garden scene when some sumo wrestlers and guards come crashing through and destroy his entire palette except for blue.

While U.S. artist Don Moyer maintains the form of the Willow Pattern but introduces many elements that are stylistically close though anachronistic, and that bring a sense of danger and disruption, such as pterodactyls instead of pigeons, and a sailing ship flying the Jolly Roger, thus breaking the romantic idyllic ethos that the scenes were originally intended to convey.