Blue and White Chinaware for Dolls

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On the plate is Fair Mount near Philadelphia
By Stubbs, Staffordshire. I made it printable
and a similar color to blue willow planks.

“Transfer printing is a method of decorating pottery or other materials using an engraved copper or steel plate from which a monochromatic print is taken on paper and then transferred by pressing onto the ceramic piece. Pottery decorated using the technique is known as transfer ware or transfer ware.”
Indigo or blue and white are two of the most popular combinations in midgets, but they also come in brown and white, black and white, green and white, red and white… well, you get the idea. It has been manufactured for over 100 years by many different ceramic companies. Staffordshire is probably the most famous manufacturer of collectible haulage.

Blue willow panels that tell the legend of two lovers.

Small sauce pots. These are hand painted in blue and white.

A small three-inch vase made in China, blue and white in colour.

A set of Blue Canton china has been sold for 100 years.

The legend behind Blue Willow China

Everyone knows the Chinese Canton paraphernalia – the ever-famous ‘willow’ pattern – with its pagodas, bridges, streams, boats, small figures of men and women, and lovebirds. One catchy legend says that the story depicted in China tells how the Mandarin had an only daughter, Li-Chi, who fell In love with her father’s secretary, Chang.
The Mandarin forbade the match, so the lovers fled, hiding for a time in a gardener’s hut, until they finally tried to escape to an island that was Zhang’s home. The Mandarin pursued them, whip in hand and would have killed them had the gods not come to their rescue and changed the two into a pair of turtle doves.
In the design will be seen the Mandarin’s house with a hedge around it, the gardener’s hut, the bridge over which the Mandarin ran after his daughter, who was accompanied by Zhang with her staff. Above are the turtle pools, and beyond that a boat crosses over to the island. At the time of the escape the willows were dropping their leaves, hence the name of the design.

Above is the original legendary antique blue willow panel design. It’s printable for those
Students who want to unpack a set of Chinese dishes for their dolls. Cardboard cut to
Recreate your board designs and stick them together with Mod Podge. Give your doll dinnerware
Several coats of Mod Podge to make it sturdy enough to play with!


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