Blue & white

Explaining ‘blue and white’ ceramics is not particularly straightforward because the term itself is a catch-all expression for a huge global, multi-cultural mix of items ranging from the ancient right through to the modern. It is therefore necessary to define what the term is and where it originates from.

Ancient origins

Blue and white decoration is an ancient form of ornamentation using cobalt oxide, which we know as cobalt blue. The historical origins of colouring items blue was to simulate lapis lazuli; this was perfected by the ancient Egyptians over 5,000 years ago using a calcium copper silicate recipe, enabling them to produce vast quantities of blue faience items – fine, tin-glazed pottery. Ancient Egyptian items in blue faience are very prevalent and small examples can be purchased relatively cheaply.

Blue was also a very important colour in Islamic culture and although it is popular to think that the Chinese invented ‘blue