Blue and white inspiration

Wedgwood, cobalt, Delft or robin’s egg blue, plus myriad other descriptions, are more than sufficient evidence that the color blue has universal appeal that has never wavered.

Design trends come and go; favorite colors become fugitive and changing styles are dictated by the design industry, but blue and white, in all of its elements, endures. Of the few remnants that remain of the first Chinese pottery with blue designs, in the ninth century, the background slip has a greenish hue and the blue is not as vibrant as the later decorative designs that used cobalt pigment.

By the 14th century, the manufacture of blue and white ceramics in China was a bustling industry, driven by the demand for the elegant designs from Persia and from other Middle Eastern countries. Due to the trade between China and the Islamic countries, the designs reflected the societal and religious influences of both cultures.

Pigment derived from cobalt was an expensive commodity, more costly than gold, and, its application in decorating porcelains and pottery became a status symbol, associated with the royal dynasties, throughout Asia.

Trade with Europe and with the new world

By the 17th century, the Chinese were catering to European tastes with the addition of artwork familiar to their western clients, intermingled with the traditional Chinese and Islamic symbols. Due to the sleuthing efforts of a French Jesuit priest, the secrets of the prized Chinese porcelain were brought to Europe in the early 18th century.

The first porcelain factory on the continent opened in Meissen, Germany, in 1707 and was fully established by the time it received the recipe for the translucent blue and white glazes for its best known pattern, Blue Onion, which is still manufactured by Meissen today.

Other countries followed suit in the mid 18th century with factories opening in France and in Worcester and in Staffordshire, England, where the Blue Willow pattern was most popular. Flow Blue porcelain, so called because of the purposeful blurring of the pattern in the kiln firing process, was first made in Staffordshire in the mid-19th century and is still highly collectible.

In Delft, Netherlands, Chinese designs were reproduced on porcelain, which took its name from the city, and were copied by factories in England. Although much of the design was hand-painted, transfer patterns gained acceptance in the Asian and in the European markets.

Faience ware, first made by artisans in the northern Italian village of Faenza, is a more provincial tin-glazed earthenware, with intricate and gaily painted designs. Majolica, which originated on the island of Majorca, is related to faience, with Moorish designs distinguishing it from its Italian cousins. The more fragile glaze of faience ware, one time considered inferior by porcelain purists, makes it more appropriate for decorative accessories.

With the growing affluence of the American market, blue and white porcelain was the rage in fashionable homes in the 18th century, often with flourishes of hammered steel, silver or brass around the lids of boxes, on the edges of tankards and fashioned into handles for pitchers. Chinese motifs, or chinoiserie, were most desirable for table ware and for decorative containers, which might have fantastical wading birds, dragons or Asian scenes painted in the trademark cobalt blue against a white background.

The romantic tug of blue and white

Some rules of design are useful — others beg to be broken. Colorists’ advice for interiors is to use blue sparingly for interior finishes — it is known as one of the “cool” colors, best used in a serene environment. The blue in popular Chinese and European ceramics is the exception — just the name, “cobalt blue,” evokes an intense reaction and, against luminous white, is as crisp and lively as freshly cut Dutch irises.

Carol Martin has indulged her romance with blue and white since she was a teenager; she recalls the Blue Willow platters used by her family when she was growing up. Since that time, she has picked up pieces that caught her eye, no matter the provenance or historical importance.

Some of her accessories are valuable antiques; others are reproductions that faithfully capture the essence of the first imports and a few she has purchased for pure whimsy, like a pair of Herend miniature rabbits.

Tall matching vases, in a floral design, raised on oriental stands, frame the artwork over Martin’s living room mantle, against daisy yellow walls; Chinese patterned chargers, old Blue Willow platters and new ginger jars fill the bookcases flanking an end wall of the room.

She also collects Staffordshire dogs, which are used as bookends and whose glazes complement the blue and white ceramics. A deep blue rug anchors the predominantly yellow, blue and white color palette, accented by handmade floral pillows and the coral damask on a couple of arm chairs.

Smaller plates, bowls and tiny tea sets are clustered in an open, wall hung curio cabinet in the adjoining sun room where the collection is the focal point against white washed walls.

An interior designer’s personal collections

After working at Rich’s in Atlanta and at a Middle Georgia furniture gallery, Bonnie Dowling, a graduate in interior design from Florida State University, opened her eponymous design firm in 1978. She and her husband, Hamp Dowling, have lived downtown since they restored a house in the heart of the Intown historic district after they married 43 years ago.

Against the original chocolate walls of their living room, Bonnie displayed crystal candlesticks and bowls, their prismatic glow a dramatic foil for the walls. She also started collecting blue and white porcelain and introduced the colors into the decor of the dining room and the adjoining kitchen, pairing the accessories with coral and butter yellow.

On the dining room windows, a chinoiserie print in varying shades of blue, by Bailey and Griffin, coordinates well with the hand-woven Dhurrie rug, in bold blue on an ivory field and the French plaid on the chairs. Blue mop head hydrangeas, from the Dowling garden, arranged as the table centerpiece, complete the panoply of blue and white, wrapped in the warmth of the walls.

The crystal collection has grown in the past 40-plus years, and the Dowlings have inherited old blue and white china from a family member, brightening the dark mahogany of a breakfront, with the play of patterns filling its shelves.

The new cabinets in the recently renovated kitchen are finished in a semi-gloss, lustrous blue, a color found in many of the chargers and plates displayed, from floor to ceiling, on the old chimney breast. Bonnie selects the additions to her collection for appeal, not necessarily for their significance — she uses a lot of her containers for plants and for flower arrangements, something she may not do if they were rare porcelains.

Collections become reminders of special occasions or of good friends and their gifts — every piece has a story to tell.

This story was originally published November 9, 2016 at 3:02 PM with the headline "Blue and white inspiration."