The Willow Pattern and Booths Real Old Willow - Shop
The Story
The 18th century Chinese Willow pattern is so called because of the willow tree that is depicted centrally in the scene and is derived from several Chinese and Japanese fairy tales.
The story goes that long ago there was an important Chinese Manderin. He had a beautiful daughter, Koong-Se . Koong-Se fell in love with her father's bookkeeper assistant, Chang . Her father became furious because she was of a higher rank than Chang. He fired the bookkeeper and built a high wall around his house to keep the loving couple apart.
He found a more suitable marriage partner for his daughter, a duke, and planned a wedding date. The two were going to get married on the first day of the willow blossom. The Duke arrived by boat carrying a chest of jewels for his new bride.
The night before the wedding, however, Chang sneaked inside the house dressed as a servant. He and Koong-Se fled in the Duke’s boat, taking with them a box of jewels. Kong-Se’s father came running after them in anger, with a whip in his hand but the pair managed to escape and sailed to an island where they lived happily together for many years.
Unfortunately, the duke discovered their hiding place, sent soldiers after them and murdered them both. The gods were so dismayed by this that they turned the two into turtle doves.
Willow Pattern China
In the 18th century there was a great interest in Asian art in Europe. Mainly porcelain and especially blue porcelain was extremely popular. The pattern was probably designed for the British brand Spode in 1780, after which it became famous and was adopted by several porcelain makers.
Usually found in blue on white, the pattern can also be seen, less often, in pink or green.
Booths Real Old Willow
At the end of the 19th century, the British brand Booths started making a new series of porcelain with the well-known Willow pattern. The series was produced by Booths from c.1906 until 1999 and has many variations that determine their age, their worth, and their collectability.
There are four periods in which Booths Real Old Willow was made: 1906-1921; 1921-1944; 1944-1981; 1981-1999, the latter under the ownership of Royal Doulton.
Before the 2nd World War, Booths Real Old Willow was produced with a gilded rim and inner edge. From 1939-1944, however, there was a shortage of gold and the inner border and rims, if coloured at all, were painted brown.
After the war, it was possible for people to bring their brown painted porcelain to the factory to have it gilded. This gilding was added over the top of the paint which could often still be seen. The brown decorative inner edges were retained but gold borders were added above and below it.
