Wonderful Willow Pattern

Wonderful Willow Pattern

We all know it, that bright "Blue and White" china that can be found in kitchen cupboards up and down the land. Its long been a stable of UK homes and is somehow now a symbol of reassurance, a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake on some blue and white china somehow makes everything ok. 

What most people don't know though is that the chinoiserie willow pattern, depicting a Chinese love story was in fact imagined and created in Staffordshire, a long way from the exotic Orient. Believed to be first developed by the founders of Spode and Minton in the 1780's, its now entered the nations very fabric, from Nanas favourite Roast Joint Serving Platter, to washed up pieces of sea pottery on the Cornish Coast.

The love story of the willow pattern is quite romantic, and on closer inspections of most pieces all the characters can be seen.

The Romantic Fable: Once there was a wealthy Mandarin, who had a beautiful daughter (Koong-se). She had fallen in love with her father's humble accounting assistant (Chang), angering her father. (It was inappropriate for them to marry due to their difference in social class.) He dismissed the young man and built a high fence around his house to keep the lovers apart. The Mandarin was planning for his daughter to marry a powerful Duke. The Duke arrived by boat to claim his bride, bearing a box of jewels as a gift. The wedding was to take place on the day the blossom fell from the willow tree.
On the eve of the daughter's wedding to the Duke, the young accountant, disguised as a servant, slipped into the palace unnoticed. As the lovers escaped with the jewels, the alarm was raised. They ran over a bridge, chased by the Mandarin, whip in hand. They eventually escaped on the Duke's ship to the safety of a secluded island, where they lived happily for years. But one day, the Duke learned of their refuge. Hungry for revenge, he sent soldiers, who captured the lovers and put them to death. The gods, moved by their plight, transformed the lovers into a pair of doves (possibly a later addition to the tale, since the birds do not appear on the earliest willow pattern plates).- Wikipedia.

So why write a blog post about Willow Pattern? Well, this is your heads up! It last had a revival in the 1980's, the newly wealthy collected it to adorn their country kitchens and its popularity resurged. When I first started dealing in antiques in 2008 nobody wanted willow pattern, I couldn't give it away, but things are changing, now as soon as I get it in stock, it sells. So, take heed, the fashion is changing as people start to love willow pattern again!

The Antique Shop

The Antique Shop

I've worked in Hay Antiques Market since 2009. It's an odd place, that kind of eccentric, rambling, allsorts, building that dates back to early Georgian times and somehow fits the trade nicely.

After being in the trade for some years now I should be used to the people we get through the door, but still they amaze me. Hay-On-Wye is firmly on the tourist map so we do get visitors from all over the place along with locals.

The characters that come through the door sometimes feel as though they've been lifted from some forgotten Dickensian classic, others clearly show how Britain got an Empire. That kind of strong iron core folk that will do anything for someone with good manners but heaven help the soul that queue hops in front of them. I love these people. I adore their low level mumbling strength of character and odd dirty laugh. The willingness to knock their heads back and crack a joke. Their ability to rush in and tell me if the parking attendant has been seen. A deep seated love of dogs - after all they are nicer than people - and their considered opinions on the best cake or cup of tea in town.

They are the core customer base and frankly they're brilliant.

We don't stock Nazi memorabilia. It's not written into the rules its just not done in our happy band. So imagine my surprise when a young American man came in on Saturday. Clearly on holiday in his shorts and tee-shirt he was eating an ice cream stood next to the sign that said no eating or drinking in the shop. I let that slip as he looked at me in between licks of his ice cream cone and said "do you have WW2 stuff?"

Me: "we have 1940's ephemera, clothing and artefacts, as well as some government issued World war 2 posters........what were you looking for?"

Customer: "oh I'm not interested in that,....... Nazi stuff,..... German things I want..."

Me: "no we don't stock that"

Customer: "Oh,...well what about Vichy French?"

Me - smiling sweetly : "I'm sorry I'm afraid we only have non fascist winning side items here"

He shrugged, turned on his heels and walked out.

It still surprises me that people want that kind of item, a military dealer I know told me that Nazi memorabilia is still a great seller, but really, why? Who would want that in their home? Why would anyone date a guy or girl that collected it? How would you approach it as a subject? "Hi, my names Joe Bloggs, I'm 23 years old, I'd like to meet a like minded individual, my hobbies are cycling, going out and collecting Fascist things..." That's a dating profile that would be swiped as far away as possible as soon as possible. The only way around it would be to keep it quiet like some seedy secret or develop a collection once in a committed long term relationship. 

As I said, I'll never get use to the people who come through the door, they still startle and amaze me.

That Post Christmas Day, Pre New Year Lull. 

Time to think about what we do...

Being self employed, these few days in between Christmas day and New Year leave me with a bit of a quandary. I'm not working, and that cant be right can it? Anyone in any form of retail will tell you that the run up to Christmas is incredibly stressful, that is added to ten fold when the business is your own, and then even more so when you hand make the majority of the stock, so this sudden "thumb twiddle time" is a bit of a shock. I tend to use it to plan roughly what I intend to achieve within the year. So, let me tell you about the three main ways I fill the hours of the day, well, the working hours of the day with anyway.

Firstly the Antiques and Vintage goodies. For seven years I've dealt in Antiques, Collectables and Vintage goods in Hay-on-Wye the Book town, famous for its Annual literature Festival. www.hayfestival.com  Found nestling in the Welsh borders, frankly, it's known for being a bit eclectic. We have a unit in Hay Antiques Market and I'll be honest, I LOVE IT!

I source and stock a collection of vintage and antique furniture, renovate pieces and source an array of English china, along with other items, most of all, I love the sublime characters I meet in the trade and in Hay-on-Wye itself. If Dickens was still alive and kicking, he'd find a gold seam of Characters to use in Hay. I promise to tell you about them sometime.

I also run a little design firm called Elam & Eager Fauxidermy. I make life size textile taxidermy, using vintage upholstery materials, such as Sanderson linen and welsh wools. After all what else do you do with a BSc Hons in Zoology? We've made Badgers, Black Bears, Hares, Foxes, Stags, essentially what ever takes our fancy, we'll try and have a go.

We currently only sell them at events but I think its time to move online, don't you? Each of our lovely beasties gets signed, named and dated when finished. We've sent them around the world, and I'm incredibly proud of every characterful beastie we've made in the craftorium. Each one is unique in its own right. The best bit, is when I get a photo of them proudly hung on the wall and "re-homed". It's all born out of our love of the Natural World.

Then there is Sara And Heart. With its roots in my Bespoke Handmade Jewellery Company (Sarah Elam Jewellery) that I started in 2003. We make hand made individual jewellery designs,

and under the same Design House source items for Vintage Decorative Living. We also make soft furnishings from vintage welsh wools and vintage linens. For years we've mainly attended fairs and markets in the Cardiff area with our goodies. We've just finished the well known Cardiff Christmas market, 43 days trading in the centre of the city. Hard work to say the least.

In between all of this I travel around visiting Antique Fairs, sourcing goods, gardening, cooking, renovating the house, walking the dog and doting on my niece.

Not a bad way to fill the hours of the day :-)