China Blues
What is it about blue that people like so much? No one seems to dislike blue. In fact, most are attracted to blue eyes, blue jeans, blue birds, blue skies, blue notes, and most anything else that is blue.
There is no exception regarding the allure of blue in china history. All of the earliest patterns of china were exported from China into the Western Hemisphere, and those early Chinese patterns only had blue decoration on a white ceramic body. Many of these patterns are still familiar to us today, such as Willow, Canton, Nanking, and the Boy in the Window.
The reason for this was not the love of blue, but the fact that cobalt blue was the only color decoration that could be successfully applied to porcelain under the glaze. Other colors changed, or ran in the kiln.
Beginning in the early eighteenth century, French, German, English, Danish and other countries began to introduce their own domestically produced china. Initially, all were "copies" of Chinese export porcelain in, of course, blue and white.
The earliest copies were made to resemble the Chinese porcelain as closely as possible,
since the export was an expensive and precious commodity that brought status to it's owner.
Sometimes good, domestically made copies were used to replace or add to original sets of
export ware.
An example of this is the Willow Pattern. The platter above is the Chinese export version.
The plate to the right is an English version of the same pattern produced approximately fifty
years later.
Eventually, high quality domestically produced wares in Western European countries
began to reflect the popular domestic aesthetic, rather than simply imitate Chinese
patterns. For example, views of the English countryside began appearing on English
china, and native flower sprays appeared on German china.
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| English ironstone dessert plate by D. Johnstone, circa 1860.
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English ironstone dinner size portrait plate of G. Washington by Royal Doulton, circa 1875.
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English ironstone dinner plate with view of Fort Wayne, IN Court House, circa 1875.
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Whether it is the early historical success of blue decoration or the timeless universal appeal of blue, people still seem to enjoy collecting blue and white china more than any other specific categories of china.
Today, most collectors of blue and white china do not limit themselves to only one pattern. Often, collectors have a set of blue and white that they use, but they also have lots of other examples represented in partial sets, small groupings, or even by single pieces.
In fact, there are so many blue and white options that some collectors narrow their collections to those made in a specific country, by a specific manufacturer, or with a particular type of decoration. There are those who collect pieces decorated with only flowers, architectural views, landscapes, specific historical scenes, portraits, animals, or whatever it is that they like. Still others collect by piece type, such as only cups and saucers, platters, sauce boats, or plates.
A wonderful aspect of collecting odd pieces of blue and white is that these beautiful patterns seem to look even better when they are grouped together! The various shades of blue, the different ages and countries of origin, and the contrasting styles of decoration only enhance the texture and historical interest of a collection.
The only rule in collecting blue and white is to collect what you like!
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