The Blue Willow Legend

According to Willow Collectors, the legend dates back to the mid-1800’s.  A wealthy Mandarin gentleman had a beautiful daughter named Koong-se and they lived in a beautiful pagoda under an apple tree. Next to the pagoda was a bridge and a willow tree.

The man’s secretary, a gentleman named Chang fell in love with the beautiful daughter while working for her father.  This angered the father greatly because he believed Chang was not worthy of his daughter.  He banished the secretary and constructed a fence along the estate’s borders to keep him out.  His daughter could only walk in the gardens within the fence and over the bridge to the water’s edge.

However, one day, Chang fitted a shell with sails.  In the shell he placed a poem and a bead Koong-se had given him.  He floated the shell boat to the water’s edge where Koong-se found it and knew that her love was near.

Koong-se’s father informed her he had arranged her marriage and she was betrothed to Ta-Jin, a wealthy merchant and warrior Duke.  She was devastated when told the Duke was arriving with jewels for her as an engagement gift and a banquet was to be held in their honor.

After the banquet that night, Chang borrowed the robes of a servant and snuck into Koong-se’s room.  The lovers embraced and vowed to run away together. The Duke, the Mandarin and the guests consumed much alcohol and the couple almost got away unseen, but her father saw them at the last minute and chased them across the bridge.

The couple escaped and hid away with a maid her father had fired for conspiring with the lovers. Koong-se had given the cask of jewels from Ta-Jin to Chang.  The Mandarin, who was also a magistrate, claimed Chang was a thief and vowed to have him executed.  One night, the Mandarin’s spies reported seeing Chang near a raging river.  To escape the spies, Chang jumped into the raging water and Koong-se was afraid he had drowned.  He did not however, and the couple escaped to an island where they hid away for years.

Chang became an author and his fame grew for his writings.  This was the couple’s undoing.  The Mandarin sent his guards and Chang was killed by the sword.  In her grief, Koong-se set fire to their house with her inside and both lovers died.  The Chinese gods were touched by the depths of their love and immortalized the star-crossed lovers by turning them into doves. The doves eternally fly the skies together.

Motifs of Blue Willow

You will find much symbolism in the motifs of Blue Willow.

• Doves: two doves fly at the top of the pattern.
• Pagoda: the estate home of the Mandarin and Koong-se under the apple tree
• Bridge: three figures of Chang, Koong-se and the Mandarin are on the bridge
• Fence: constructed to keep Chang out and Koong-se in
• Willow: the willow tree at the water’s edge where Koong-se found the shell from Chang
• Ship: the boat (believed to have belonged to Ta-Jin) Koong-se and Chang escaped on

Blue Willow History

Blue Willow is not a Chinese pattern but a thoroughly English one. The pattern was created by Thomas Turner of Caughley, Shropshire, England in 1779. He developed a specialty for Chinese patterns and had Thomas Minton engrave the original Willow pattern. Thomas Minton became a famous potter himself but got his start apprenticing for Turner and then Josiah Spode. Turner based the Willow pattern on a Chinese blue and white landscape pattern called Nanking.

Even the story is not Chinese, it was created by Turner as a marketing ploy. According to Love to Know, by the end of the 18^th century, the pattern was so popular in Europe, several English potteries were making the pattern.

Blue Willow Pattern

This pattern has been produced for over 200 years and by as many as 500 different manufacturers.  Because there are so many manufacturers who have produced Blue Willow, there are many variations to the pattern.  To truly be Blue Willow, the pattern must have the fence, the bridge, the doves, the stream and of course, the willow tree.  If you don’t have these elements, it is not Blue Willow.

Transferware

As mentioned earlier, Blue Willow is a transferware pattern.  Transferware is made when an engraved copper- plate is pressed onto paper.  The paper pattern is then transferred to the pottery.  The process is primarily used on earthenware but is also found on porcelain, ironstone and bone china.  The colors used are blue, red (pink), green, brown, black and mulberry (purple).

Makers Marks

Is all Blue Willow marked? No, unfortunately. Many early pieces were not marked at all. Collector and dealer, Rita Entmacher Cohen talks about makers marks on Blue Willow with Martha Stewart. She explains how potter’s may have marked a piece with an initial but while this may identify the potter, it does not reveal the manufacturer because the potters moved from pottery to pottery.

Dating Blue Willow

Maker’s marks are an easy way to date a piece. Ruby Lane offers a guide to manufacturer marks. Unmarked pieces are difficult to date. The body type, the glaze and the pattern itself can offer clues to age. Early Blue Willow pieces have a softer glaze and many will show evidence of crazing. American potters did not begin producing Blue Willow until 1905 when the Buffalo Pottery Company issued the pattern here in the States.

Value

Blue Willow, like anything else, ranges from very affordable to very expensive. Value depends on the condition, age and uniqueness of a piece. Typically, British pieces are worth more than American or Japanese manufacturers.

Worthpoint is an excellent source for determining value. You can also look at sites like Replacements, Etsy, and Ebay to see what pieces are listed for. Just keep in mind that the prices on Etsy and Ebay can vary dramatically and are not necessarily a good representation of what a piece actually sells for. The truest way to obtain a value is to have your pieces appraised professionally.

Resources to Learn More

Books:

• Willow Ware: Ceramics in the Chinese Tradition by Leslie Bockol
• A Collector’s Book of Willow Ware by Jennifer Lindbeck
• Willow Pattern China Collectors Guide – Know Your Willow China by Veryl Marie Worth
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of British Willow Ware by Connie Rogers

Organization:

• International Willow Collectors