Willow pattern
The English printed pattern with a Chinese bridge, a willow and two doves – the tale of the eloping lovers.
The pattern was created in England around 1790 after Chinese models, and the story of the lovers was invented afterwards to sell it. Printed by hundreds of factories, it is perhaps the world’s most common china pattern. Examples are in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Materials: Earthenware or porcelain with blue transfer print
Manufacture: The pattern was engraved on a copper plate, printed on paper in cobalt and transferred to the ware.
The three figures on the bridge, the willow and the two doves in the sky.
The fine stipple of dots and lines – print, not brushwork.