Japanese Wares

Very little Japanese blue and white porcelain was imported into Europe; the few imports were copies of kraak dishes. These can be distinguished from their Chinese counterparts by heavier potting, the finely bubbled glaze and the presence of `spur’ marks on the base. They fetch £1500-£5000 - more than the Chinese originals. Small dishes, teabowls and saucers made for the Dutch market, and influenced by Delft ware, fetch £300-£ 1 000.

The blue and white pieces made by the Kakiemon kilns at Arita can rarely be bought for under £1000. Eighteenth-century blue and white from Nabeshima is highly prized by Japanese collectors, and starts at £1000 a piece. However, 19th-century Nabeshima - which is in exactly the same style - is worth considerably less, selling for about £2,00, and distinguishing between the two is difficult.

Antique Collector Magazine

From the mid- 19th century onwards, the kilns at Hirado made very fine wares in blue and white; examples sell in the £150-£3000 range and are perhaps underpriced. Later in the century, Makuzu Kozan rescued Japanese porcelain from the poor state into which it had fallen. His work is much sought after, fetching from £800 up to £20,000 today.

In Europe

Cobalt-blue was first used in Europe on 15th-century Italian maiolica. Porcelain made by the Medici factory in Florence included copies of Chinese and Persian wares in blue and white, but by the early 17th century the French factories of Rouen, St Cloud and Chantilly were all making soft- paste blue and white porcelain simply decorated and with scrolling borders known as lambrequins. A St Cloud cup and saucer now costs about £300 - but more than twice this if it bears the sun face factory mark. A piece of Rouen will fetch perhaps up to £ 10,000.

Meissen produced very little blue and white during the r8 th century, with the exception of a few dinner and tea services. Its ‘Onion’ pattern, which is still in production, is the most collected of these, and plates start at about £80. Copies of the ‘Onion’ pattern range were made in Thuringia, in Bohemia and at Copenhagen. Such pieces are generally bought for use rather than investment, and are found from around £20 each.

It was Britain that made a virtue out of the monochrome palette, specialising in blue and white from the mid- 19th century. The Bow factory made more than any other, and exported much to North America. Its potting was heavy, enabling it to make large dishes when other factories failed, but its wares have a tendency to brown discoloration where chipped or cracked. Pieces start at £90.

The Worcester factory made large numbers of blue and white services, mostly for tea. Its soapstone porcelain body withstood boiling water better than others, and today Worcester teapots sell for £150 or more.

British Mass Production

The great contribution to ceramics made by the British was the development of transfer printing. The method of offsetting a printed image from tissue onto the ceramic body was first used in Liverpool for applying overglaze prints to tin- glazed tiles. It was soon adapted to decorate wares in underglaze blue and was employed by most of the 19th century factories.

From late in the 19th century the Staffordshire potters began to produce enormous quantities of blue and white transfer-printed wares. Making a wide variety of pearlware, earthenware and stone china at low cost and to high standards, they cornered the international market. Most of these dishes sell today for between £90 and £300, although more sought-after patterns, such as Spode’s ‘Sporting’ series, fetch double that, and a ‘Prize Bull’ print more than £ 1000.

The technique is still being used, and many willow, ruin and Italianate landscape patterns are being produced from the original copper plates. Always bear in mind that the words ‘England’ or ‘Made in England’ stamped on the base indicate that the piece is less than 100 years old.

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