19th Century Willow Pattern Serving Platters
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item
When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.
- Willow Pattern - Although several potteries including Minton and Spode claim credit for design of the Willow pattern, the design is generally attributed to Thomas Turner of Caughley Porcelain Works in Shropshire, about 1780.
Whilst borrowing from the Chinese style, it was not a copy of a Chinese pattern.
The blue-and-white chinaware on which it appeared became immensely popular and the design was reproduced with variations by many English and European factories including Royal Worcester, Spode, Adams, Wedgwood, Davenport, Clews, Leeds and Swansea.
It was even copied in Asia, where it is still produced, with the wares being exported to Western countries.
The pattern portrays the garden of a rich mandarin whose young daughter elopes with his secretary. The lovers, overtaken on the bridge by her father, are transformed by the gods into birds and flutter beyond his reach. The scene with its willow tree usually covers the central part of a plate, dish, or bowl, with a border of butterflies, a fret, or other motif.
Traditional Willow pattern is in cobalt blue on white, though very occasionally other colours are used, such as purple or brown. The main part of the object contains the trees, houses, bridge, figures, and birds of the story and there is usually a fairly abstract pattern around the extremities. - Transfer Printed / Decorated Transferware - Transfer printing is method of decorating ceramics, reducing the cost of decoration when compared to employing artists to paint each piece. A print was taken on transfer-paper from an engraved copperplate, covered in ink prepared with metallic oxides, and the image on the paper was then applied to the biscuit-fired ceramic body. The print was fixed by heating the object in an oven, and then glazed, sealing the picture. Early transfer prints were blue and white, as cobalt was the only colour to stand firing without blurring. Early in the 19th century advances in the composition of the transfer paper resulted in better definition and detail, and enabled engravers to combine line-engraving with stipple.
This item has been included into following indexes:
Visually similar items
Three 19th century Japanese plates with blue landscape on 'Celadon green' ground. Glazed under rim, with four blue characters, two with 29 cm diameter, one 30 cm diameter. Provenance: Purchased at Christies Knightsbridge, London 1978 (according to estate n
Pair of Chinese Swatow dishes. Chrysanthemum design & gritty bases. Cracks to 1. Provenance: Australian collector. Diameter 18 cm (each)
Two large Chinese blue and white dishes, 19th century, each similarly carved with a long-tailed bird amongst flowers and fruits, diameter 28 cm max
A set of six late 19th century English porcelain botanical study plates, each centrally painted with floral spray within gilded trellis border, 23.5 cm diameter, (6)