Introduction

The Willow pattern was developed by Josiah Spode from an original Chinese pattern called Mandarin in about 1790(1) . The pattern has been extremely popular ever since its introduction although the legend attached to it is apocryphal.

Many similar patterns were produced in the late 1700s and early 1800s by several different manufacturers. In the late 18th/early 19th century any blue printed design imitating Chinese porcelain was often described as Willow!(2) The main features of the true Willow pattern are the bridge with three persons crossing it, the willow tree, the boat, the main teahouse, the two birds and the fence in the foreground of the garden. There is apparently no Chinese pattern which contains all the features of the standard Willow pattern.

Three different versions were produced in the early Spode period (pre 1833) with differences in the engraving technique and the colours of blue used.

In the late 1990s Willow was reintroduced as part of The Blue Room Collection by Spode.

In June 2000 whilst making repairs to a building at Spode huge quantities of this pattern were found which had been used as foundations for a wall. The pieces were dated to the very early 1800s and included shards from all sorts of tableware shapes. Forest Landscape pattern was also found.

Researching the pattern and its legend
1

Details of the Willow pattern and its history can be found in Spode's Willow pattern and Other Designs After the Chinese by Robert Copeland(3) . The 3rd edition of this book of 1999 also contains a facsimile of the first known published account of 'The Story of the Common Willow-Pattern Plate' from an edition of The Family Friend Volume 1 London 1849. This story was published in 2 parts and the first part has the initials J. B. L at the end. There is no hint to the author's identity. This version was later adapted and republished in C. A. S. Williams book 'Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives' 1932.
2

Robert Copeland also wrote an article in 1978 for the Antique Collector (no longer published in 2001) called Josiah Spode and the origins of the Willow pattern. This is reproduced here (via the below links):

Josiah Spode and the Origins of the Willow Pattern, by Robert Copeland (Page One Two Three)
3

Other articles, books and poems are detailed below:

'The Story on the Willow Plate' adapted by Leslie Thomas from the Chinese Legend published by Schocken Books New York 1968 first published 1940.

'The Legend of the Willow Pattern Plate' by Mary L. Stollard published in September 1959 in Home Owner(4)

'The Willow Pattern' - a poem by B. L. Bowers(5)

'The Willow Pattern Ware' - by Mary L. Stollard(6)

(a different versions of the poem from an unknown source is reproduced here).

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(1) Spode's Willow Pattern and Other Designs After the Chinese by Robert Copeland, published by Studio Vista. ISBN 0-289-80177-X
(2) "It must be blue willow in any pattern" -quoted in Una des Fontaines early printed patterns at Etruria from the proceedings of the Wedgwood Society 1975
(3) Spode's Willow Pattern and Other Designs After the Chinese by Robert Copeland, published by Studio Vista. ISBN 0-289-80177-X
(4) From the Horace Barks Reference Library, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent reference number P738.17
(5) Source unknown but from the Horace Barks Reference Library, Hanley Stoke-on-Trent
(6) Source unknown but from the Horace Barks Reference Library, Hanley Stoke-on-Trent