Blue and white decor: 12 prints with porcelain colours

Hokusai’s snow, Hiroshige’s waves, Canaletto’s pale skies and Blake’s moonlit circle: twelve blue and white pictures to hang beside your porcelain.

Blue and white is one of the oldest colour schemes in the world. It came from China on porcelain, was copied in Delft and Meissen, and has never left our homes: in ginger jars, striped linen, toile and tiles. It is fresh, calm and timeless.

These twelve pictures share that palette, in three groups: indigo prints from Japan, porcelain skies, and blue and white dreams. Hang them near your blue and white china and the room pulls together at once.

Indigo prints from Japan

The deep blues of woodblock prints.

1. A Peasant Crossing a Bridge

A lone traveller crosses an arched bridge beneath a snowy willow.

Katsushika Hokusai, A Peasant Crossing a Bridge, late 1830s. Color woodblock print; nagaban. Art Institute of Chicago.

Katsushika Hokusai made this print in the late 1830s for his series A True Mirror of Chinese and Japanese Poems.

Indigo, snow white and a hint of rose.

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2. The Ferry at Imagiri

A ferry crosses choppy waves toward the point at Imagiri.

Utagawa Hiroshige, The Ferry at Imagiri, c. 1837/42. Color woodblock print; chuban. Art Institute of Chicago.

Hiroshige made this print around 1840 for one of his many series on the Tōkaidō road between Edo and Kyoto.

Slate blue and foam white.

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3. Mallard and Snow-covered Reeds

A mallard floats among snow covered reeds.

Utagawa Hiroshige, Mallard and Snow-covered Reeds, ca. 1843. Woodblock print; ink and color on paper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Utagawa Hiroshige made this bird and flower print in the 1830s or 1840s: a single duck, a few reeds and soft falling snow.

Pale blue, white and a hint of straw.

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4. Two Young Girls Pausing to Admire the View by a Torii

Two young women pause by a torii gate to look out over the water.

Suzuki Harunobu, Two Young Girls Pausing to Admire the View by a Torii, Edo period, circa 1765-1770. Ukiyo-e woodblock print in "chūban" format; ink, color and embossing on paper, with printed signature reading "Suzuki Harunobu ga". Harvard Art Museums.

Suzuki Harunobu made this print around 1765–70, in the first years of full colour printing in Japan.

Indigo and pale blue with persimmon.

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Porcelain skies

Wide, pale blue skies over white light.

5. Syon House

Syon House stands beyond the Thames under a huge pale blue sky, with rowing boats on the river.

Canaletto, Syon House, 1749. Oil on canvas.

Canaletto painted the Duke of Northumberland’s house in 1749, during his years in London.

Porcelain blue and stone.

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Create your portrait in this style

6. A Dune Landscape with Figures in a Storm

Small figures brace against the wind among the dunes as a storm gathers.

Pieter de Molijn, A Dune Landscape with Figures in a Storm, 1635-1645. Oil on panel. Harvard Art Museums.

Pieter de Molijn helped invent the Dutch dune landscape in Haarlem; this panel dates from about 1635–45.

Sky blue, white cloud and sand.

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7. Churchgoers on Christmas Morning

Villagers walk along a snowy road toward a church on a bright winter morning.

Hans Andersen Brendekilde, Churchgoers on Christmas Morning, 1898. Oil on canvas.

Danish painter Hans Andersen Brendekilde painted this Christmas morning in 1898.

Ice blue and snow white with straw yellow.

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8. Mountain landscape

Rugged Welsh mountains vanish into a vast blue grey sky.

Aaron Edwin Penley, Mountain landscape, ca. 1830-1870. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Aaron Edwin Penley, a Victorian watercolourist, painted the mountains of Wales in cool, misty blues.

Misty blue and slate for a calm bedroom.

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Blue and white dreams

Soft blues for bedrooms and quiet corners.

9. Our Time is Fix'd, from Blair's The Grave

Women and children float in a circle around a crescent moon in a pale blue sky.

William Blake, Our Time is Fix'd, from Blair's The Grave, 1805.

William Blake designed this for Robert Blair’s poem The Grave, published with his designs in 1808.

Powder blue and cream: soft enough for a nursery.

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10. The Lair of the Sea Serpent

A huge sea serpent rests on a sunlit dune by a calm blue sea.

Elihu Vedder, The Lair of the Sea Serpent, 1864.

Elihu Vedder painted this strange, quiet picture in 1864, and it made his name in America.

Pale cerulean, sand and white.

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11. The Infant Moses

The infant Moses floats on the Nile among lotus flowers and carved pillars.

Gustave Moreau, The Infant Moses, c. 1876-c. 1878. Oil on canvas. Harvard Art Museums.

Gustave Moreau painted this dreamlike Moses in the late 1870s, as precise as a jewel.

Lapis, pearl and soft grey.

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12. Allegory

A robed woman holds a celestial sphere beside a winged child.

Hieronymus Hopfer, Allegory, c. 1485. Harvard Art Museums.

The Hopfer family of Augsburg were among the first artists to make etchings, using the armourer’s method of biting iron with acid.

Sky blue and walnut.

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Blue and white works in every room, but shines in kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and sunny living rooms. Keep the whites warm, cream rather than optical white, and add one natural texture such as rattan, oak or linen. For more, see blue wall art, coastal wall art and art for white walls.

Questions

How do I decorate with blue and white?

Pick one blue, from indigo to sky, and repeat it in a few places: a print, a vase, a cushion and a rug. Keep the whites warm and add natural wood or rattan.

What art goes with blue and white decor?

Japanese woodblock prints, pale landscapes and pictures with wide blue skies all echo porcelain and toile.

Is blue and white decor timeless?

Yes. It has been loved since the first Chinese porcelain reached Europe and suits both traditional and modern rooms.

What frame goes with blue and white art?

White, natural oak or a thin gold frame all keep it light.