Willow Pattern Learning Resource Pack

Two birds flying high,
A Chinese vessel, sailing by.
A bridge with three men, sometimes four,
A willow tree hanging over.
A Chinese temple, there stands.
Built upon the river sands.
An apple tree, with apples on,
A crooked fence to end my song.
THE WILLOW
PATTERN
HOW THE WILLOW PATTERN CAME
TO BRITAIN
We do not know for sure how the Willow pattern came to Britain, but here
is how probably it happened. A lot of cheap Chinese pottery was imported
in the 18th Century, often as ballast in tea clippers, which the merchants
could also sell. (Ballast is extra weight carried in ships to stop then turning
over in Storms.)
This blue and white pottery became popular, British potters began to
make their own goods, based on these Chinese designs. In 1790 the
Stoke-on-Trent born potter Josiah Spode produced what we now know as
The Willow Pattern. He included features from several Chinese designs
- a bridge with three people crossing it, the willow tree, the boat, the
teahouse, the two birds and the fence in the foreground of the garden.
No original Chinese pottery ever had all these together, so the full willow
pattern is a British design. It follows that the ‘Chinese legend’ must also be
at least partly of British origin, because it includes all of these elements in
the complete design. The short poem featured on the front of this poster
was well known in its day and exists in numerous versions, all slightly
different. Its origin is still unknown.
The enduring popularity of
the willow pattern design
can be seen in the varied
forms in which it is available
(as plates, dishes, bowls,
cups, mugs) and in the
ways in which modern artist
pay homage to it and use
elements from it in their work.
Portrait of Josiah Spode
TEACHER NOTES
ART
Young people will have the opportunity to:
• Produce their own version of a work they have studied (The Willow Pattern)
• Mix colors to produce different shades of the same color (Blue)
• Use different shades of the same color creatively, to show tone and depth
LITERACY
Children will have the opportunity to:
•Enjoy a traditional story
•Discuss the characters and elements of the story detail
•Discuss the feelings and emptions of the characters in the story
•Look at the poem on the poster front and find all the elements mentioned in the
poem in the picture
MATHS
Children will have the opportunity to:
• Extend vocabulary by naming the various objects and people in the story and
identify their relative position’s (“in front of”, “above”, “below”, etc.)
• Count the elements in the picture-how many trees, people, houses?
MUSIC, DRAMA & DANCE
• Young people can perform the story with their own music
TEACHING THE WILLOW PATTERN STORY
At Harpfields Academy Stoke-on-Trent, young people took part in activities based
on the willow pattern. They:
• Listened to the story told by an artist, who also drew it as she spoke;
• Looked in groups at reproductions and versions of the willow pattern plate;
• Attempted their own designs, based on the willow pattern, on white ceramic tiles;
• Looked closely at how lines, marks and shading can be used to create a work of
art in just one colour and tried for a similar effect themselves;
• Discussed feelings of the people in the story. Says teacher Jacqui Wardle “Our
pupils gained an understanding of our ceramic heritage and are interested in
their local environment. The Willow Pattern story is something I plan to build on
during the year as we work more on ceramic projects”;
• Took part in vocabulary work based on the elements of the design;
• Discovered how popular the willow pattern design was. The young people and
teachers brought in as many examples of willow pattern crockery as they could
find in different shapes and styles;
• Were able to share the story with parents and members of the community.
WEBSITES
www.spodemuseumtrust.org
www.spodeceramics.com
www.spodeworks.org
www.britishceramicsbiennial.com
THE WILLOW PATTERN STORY
Once, long ago, and far away in China, there lived an important, proud mania Mandarin, who had
a beautiful daughter named Koong-se.
Among the Mandarin’s servants was a secretary, a young man called Chang.
Chang and the Mandarin’s daughter, Koong-se, became friends. Soon they fell in love and wanted
to be married.
When the Mandarin was told this, he was angry. He thought she should marry someone much
more important, so he sent Chang away from his palace so that he would not see Koong-se
again. To make sure that the two would not meet, he locked Koong-se into a small house
near to the palace with a fence.
Koong-se was sad, but she became even sadder when her father told her that she should
marry a person chosen by him. The person he chose was a rich warrior, Ta-Jin.
The Mandarin organized a banquet to celebrate the engagement of Koon-se to Ta-Jin.
All the guests enjoyed the banquet, except for Koong-se.
When the banquet ended, she had to go back to the little house, where she was once
again locked up.
That night, someone crept to the little house where Koong-se slept. It was Chang.He
had come into the palace disguised as a servant, while everyone was at the banquet,
Change made his way to the little house where Koong-se was sleeping. He woke her
up, and she was so glad to see him.
Together they crept through the dark corridors of the palace and out across the palace
and out across the gardens. At first no one noticed them, but then the Mandarin, looking
through his bedroom window in the night, spotted them and chased them.
They ran across a bridge, with the Mandarin close behind, but they escaped on a little boat
that took them to an island.
They found a hut and they thought they would be able to stay there forever. They were not safe.
The Mandarin and Ta-Jin found out where they were hiding and they came to the island and set
fire to the hut. Koong-se and Chang died in the flames, but their souls were set free and took flight
as two lovebirds and so they were finally able to live happily ever after.