Washington Winter Show 2018

46 “In the Chinese Style” The Timeless Appeal of Chinoiserie W hether you know it as Willow Pattern or Blue Willow , chances are you are familiar with this ubiquitous design (fig. 1) that was a staple of the early 19th-century British ceramic industry. It was produced in some variation by nearly every 19th-century British pottery manufacturer, from Barker & Sons to Wedgwood, 2 and remains so popular that, even in the 21st century, it can be found on everything from dishtowels to Dr. Martens boots. Regardless of what you call the motif, Willow Pattern perfectly embodies chinoiserie , a term borrowed from the French to describe an object “in the Chinese style.” While the Willow Pattern mimicked the motifs found on contemporaneous Chinese porcelains, the design was in fact a translation of those eastern motifs created by the Staffordshire potters. In an effort to market their wares, one pottery even went so far as to fabricate a purported Chinese folk tale to explain the various components of the design. by GRANT QUERTERMOUS Who has not inquisitively contemplated the mysterious figures on the willow- pattern plate? Who, in childish curiosity, has not wondered what those three persons in dim blue outline did upon that bridge; whence they came, and whither they were flying? What does the boatman without oars do on that white stream? Who people the houses in that charmed island?—or why do those disproportionate doves forever kiss each other, as if intensely joyful over some good deed done? —“The Willow Pattern,” The Family Friend, vol. 1 (1849). 1 2018 loan exhibition of the Washington Winter Show explores the prevalence of chinoiserie in ceramics, furniture, silver, textiles, and architecture from the mid-18th century to the mid-20th century. Fig. 1: Booth’s Real Old Willow Pa ern plate. Image Courtesy of Tudor Place Historic House and Garden. This bit of fiction was eventually published in 1849 in the British periodical The Family Friend and is the source of the introductory paragraph of this article. Ceramics are just one area where Chinese designs were imitated and interpreted in the decorative arts. The