When this pattern, Ch'ing Garden, first came out, I was obsessed. Granted, I was probably about 15, but I asked my parents to PLEASE buy the set for their collection. I thought it was beautiful and so very interesting to look at. My favorite part of the entire pattern is the dessert plates. Four different designs of flower filled baskets.
This exquisite design was inspired by hand painted 18th century Chinese wallpaper in the dining room of the Lightfoot House at Colonial Williamsburg. The decoration incorporates blossoming trees, hanging baskets of flowers and exotic birds. These were common features in Chinese inspired decorative arts, known as Chinoiserie, which were popular in Europe and colonies in the 18th Century.
Eventually my mother also had similar hand painted wallpaper installed in our family home's entrance. The pattern was a landscape with birds and beautiful flowering trees. In a few of the trees hung flower baskets, and one of those baskets she had painted to match the baskets in this pattern.
