Did you know this classic Blue Willow pattern is actually British in origin? It's believed to have been created by Thomas Minton for Thomas Turner’s Caughley factory in Shropshire around 1780. The pattern has set characteristics: a pagoda, three figures on a bridge, a figure on a boat, two flying birds, and a weeping willow tree. 

The design was inspired by a Japanese tale called "The Green Willow" and its Chinese variants. In the tragic love story, star-crossed lovers meet a deadly end but are reborn as doves, which you can see immortalized in the pattern.