May the blue bird of happiness....

These two blue birds of happiness, are well known across the globe.. from China, to USA, to South Africa, and Australia, I'm certain everybody at some time in their life has had a plate/cup of the stunning Willow pattern china?

This blue/white is just iconic.. it goes with whatever you're serving as well! Imagine freshly cut vine ripened tomatoes with slivers of buffalo mozzarella cheese placed delicately across them?

And there was always a bridge, and a romantic scene happening on my dinner plate, which took me to exotic places every meal.. Read the delightful poem below....

The Blue Willow pattern has been a household favorite for over 200 years. It was first created in England about 1780 but the patterns origins are even older than that. The Chinese had produced and exported blue and white china for the western world. It was wildly popular with the Europeans. The Blue Willow pattern adapted these themes and became one of the most beloved patterns of all time.
Spode was the first company that mass produced the Blue Willow pattern on earthenware dishes around 1790.

This is Vietnamese pottery.. I love the design and the quality of this range.. simply stunning.!

 The Willow Pattern Poem

My Willow ware plate has a story,
Pictorial, painted in blue
From the land of tea and the tea plant

And the little brown man with a queue.

Whatever the food you serve, daughter

Romance enters into the feast,
If you only pay heed to the legend,

On the old china plate from the East.

Koong Shee was a mandarin’s daughter
And Chang was her lover, ah me,

or surely her father’s accountant

Might never wed pretty Koong Shee.

So Chang was expelled from the compound,

The lover’s alliance to break,

And pretty Koong Shee was imprisoned

In a little blue house by the lake.

The Doughty old mandarin reasoned

It was time that his daughter should wed,

And the groom of his choosing should banish,

That silly romance from her head.

In symbols the dress she should wear,

Her headband of scarlet lay waiting,

She should ride in a gold wedding chair.

He was busily plotting and planning,

When a message was brought him one day,

Young Chang had invaded the palace,

And taken his sweetheart away.

They were over the bridge when he saw them,

They were passing the big willow tree,

And a boat at the edge of the water,

Stood waiting for Chang and Koong Shee.

The furious mandarin followed,

The groom with revenge in his eyes,

But the little boat danced on the water

And travelled away with the prize.

But vengeance pursued to their shelter

And burned the pagoda, they say

From out of the flames rose the lovers

A pair of doves winging away.

They flew toward the western heaven

The pretty Koong Shee and her Chang

Or so says the famous old legend

From the land of the Yangtze Kiang.

I wouldn’t be one to deny it,

For the little blue dove and her mate

Forever are flying together

Across my Willow ware plate. 

 

http://www.abcddesign.com/archives/2009/12/10/willow-pattern-blue-and-white-china/

Thanks heaps for 'permission to use'.. Much appreciated.. see you in Vietnam soon... :) j