'It's vital to adapt so our city's skills don't die out'

THE Willow pattern is one of the most globally recognised and reproduced patterns in ceramics.

- Neil Brownsword - Professor of Ceramics at University of Staffordshire

This blue-and-white scene featuring willow trees, boats, pavilions and birds is iconic and you would be forgiven for thinking that it originated in China. However, this design was an entirely British invention.

In fact, it was right here in Stoke-on-Trent at Spode where the first Willow pattern wares were produced around 1790.

People often forget that Staffordshire potters were hugely influenced by Oriental ceramics.

The imitation of Chinese tea drinking wares and porcelain during the 18th Century spurred a wave of stylistic innovation and technological advancements that were to position North Staffordshire at the forefront of ceramic production.

This is something that I explore in a new exhibition, Willow Pattern Ceramics and Stories of 'Other, which launches today at Spode Museum and will stay open to the public until March next year.

Using the Willow pattern as a lens, this exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the often-paradoxical history of Chinese influence on British ceramic traditions, offering insights into how Chinese forms, imagery, and technologies were imitated and adapted.

Beyond its decorative appeal, however, the Willow pattern also became a site of cultural reinterpretation.

Its motifs were reshaped to suit Western tastes and narratives, contributing to a romanticised, and often distorted vision of China.

Literary fabrications such as The Willow Pattern Story, along with the pattern's use in political propaganda, reflect its influential role in constructing an imagined 'Orient' during the era of British imperial expansion.