Flow Blue - How to ID and Value the Collectible Blue and White Antique China

Flow Blue is a highly collectible, antique blue and white china. The vintage dishware was most popular during the Victorian era and has experienced several surges of renewed popularity in the past 45 years.

This article offers a short history of Flow Blue and shows what makes Flow Blue different from other blue and white china patterns. I also include some suggestions on how to identify and value various Flow Blue types and patterns and include some helpful photographs, links, and videos.

Flow Blue is a type of antique china called transferware. The production of this attractive dishware produces a gentle, hazy quality in the design. The brilliant white contrasts with the beautiful cobalt blue color of the design, giving flow blue the unique quality so prized by antique china collectors.

In the late 18th century, Chinese porcelain was an extremely sought after product in England. The rich blue patterns, hand painted on a bright white background were very expensive and limited to the wealthier class.

It took over 100 years for English potters to duplicate the salt glazed earthenware that created the brilliant white background along with the application of cobalt oxide that made the Oriental designs so attractive.

TRANSFERWARE

In the late 1700's, English potters created the style of imprinting a design on china called transferware:

• A copper plate is engraved with a design and heated

• Cobalt oxide is applied onto the engraved copper plate

• Damp tissue paper is then applied to the engraved copper plate

• The tissue, lifted off the copper plate is then applied onto the pottery

• The pottery piece is placed in water so that the tissue paper floats off

There is some contention on the actual origination of Flow Blue. Some sources claim that the coloring agent diffused by accident, allowing the cobalt oxide to slightly bleed outside of the lines of the design. Other sources say that the diffusion was intentional in order to soften the edges of the pattern. Perhaps it was an accident at first, with the result being so pretty that the practice became more common.

The introduction of transferware to to the china industry created a product that was less expensive than the imported, hand painted Chinese porcelain.The affordability made Flow Blue attractive for the surging Victorian middle class.

At first, transferware Flow Blue patterns incorporated Oriental designs and motifs, including temples, pagodas, and Asian style scenery. Later, the Victorian romantic sensibility created a market for floral and pastoral patterns that highlighted English culture.

Manufacturers found themselves with an abundance of factory seconds and thirds, rejected to to an overflowing of the blue into the which which created heavier blurring of the pattern lines.  The United States provided a market for these factory seconds. The low cost of these rejected, yet beautiful pieces of blue and white dishware made Flow Blue popular with the middle and working class. From 1840 to 1870, the popularity of Flow Blue rose with its great heyday in the late 19th century into the early 20th century.

An interest in antiques created a new surge of popularity of Flow Blue for collectors in the late 1960's. Renewed interest in the later part of the 20th century created a demand for the blue and white china patters as well as a demand for reproductions of Flow Blue for regular use in the home.

Flow Blue china comes in four basic styles. Romantic Flow Blue features pastoral scenes including trees and animals as well as quaint town scenes and collages.

The most sought after versions of Flow Blue romantic scenes are

• Watteau by John William Adams (1890 - 1910)
  

• Non Pareil by Burgess & Leigh (1891 - 1900)

• Italian Scenery by W. Adams (1890)

• Jenny LInd by Arthur Wilkinson (1895)

• Excelsior by Thomas Fell (1850)
  

Oriental patterns include an Asian style and may depict temples, pagodas, Asian scenery including mountains and gardens, and people dressed in Chinese style clothing. Several desirable collectible Flow Blue patterns in the Oriental style include:

• Scinde by John and George Alcook (1840)

• Amoy by Davenport (1844)

• Cashmere by Thomas Edwards(1850)

• Cabal by Thomas Edwards (1847)

• Manilla by Podmore & Walker (1845)

Floral Flow Blue patterns feature flowers, leaves, and vines. The most collectible florals include:

• Argyle by W.H. Grindley (1898)

• Londsdale by Ridgeways (1910)

• Blue Danube by Johnston Brothers (1900 - 1904)

• La Belle by Wheeling Pottery of West Virginia (1900)

• Seville by Wood and Sons (1900)

Brush stoke is another type of Flow Blue that mimics hand painted brush strokes. This is hand painted, not transferware and has a pink or copper luster and may include other colors.

• Aster and Grapeshot or Blueberry by Joseph Clementson in Canada ((18940)

• Spinach or Hops Petrius Regout

• Tulip and Sprig by Thomas Walker (1845)

• Strawberry by Thomas Walker (1856)

• Blue Bell (1845 - 1850)
  

There is a wide variety of types and values in the Flow Blue market. Reproductions hold little vlaue but are wonderful for home use when yo udon't want to serve Sunday dinner on plates that may cost $100.00 each.

Values of antique Flow Blue fluctuate with the demand, the economy, the rarity of a piece, the conditon of a piece, as well as its general desirablity in the collectible Flow Blue market.

FACTORS THAT INCREASE THE VALUE OF FLOW BLUE

• Condition - no cracks or chips

• Type of the Flow Blue - as rarity increases value, common sense suggests that certain pieces are more rare due to breakage. Items with intact lids, spouts, or handles will be more valuable because these pieces break more easily when moved or used. For every Flow Blue teapot or sugarbowl, there will be dozens of plates, bowls, and saucers. Obviously, there were more plates and cups than sugar bowls or creamers.

• Unusual or very old peices  will be more valuable.
  

Better dishware has a manufacturer's stamp on the bottom. Look at the manufacturer's stamp and discern all the information that you can.

There are books, such as the two on the right to help you identify the type of Flow Blue that you own, or to show you the Flow Blue patterns that may interest you in the future.

Google the words or the shapes in the design of the stamp. This will lead to a list of products made by that manufacturer in that design. Google images may help you to recognize your specific piece of Flow Blue.

Check out the sites where Flow Blue is sold. Sites like EBay and dealer sites can suggest the current values of your own Flow Blue china. Of course, if you wish to sell your Flow Blue, you may want a written appraisal by a reputable antiques dealer, but that depends on what you think your piece is worth. Flow Blue can be found for as little as $35.00 on up to $500.00 depending on condition, style, type, age, and market demand. Some of the oldest pieces may be extremely valuable and are museum quality.