Japanese porcelain and the Blue Dragon Inn in Horseshoe Bay
Working on an historic archaeology collection from Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia, I came across 14 sherds of Japanese porcelain. This is not uncommon in Western Canada. Japanese porcelain was ubiquitous around the turn of the 20th century and into the 20s. But their probable connection to a business in the town is intriguing.
Japan was mostly closed off from the rest of the world from 1639 until 1853 under the isolationist foreign policy (Sakoku) of the Tokungawa shogunate (Bakufu) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakoku). Ceramics from Japanese potteries still continued to be traded directly to the west up until about 1740 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_pottery_and_porcelain#Meiji_era). After that time, some Japanese ceramics still dribbled out to the Western world through the Dutch and Chinese trading posts of Dejima (near Nagasaki) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dejima). The Japanese export styles were likely influenced by Chinese tastes.
The opening of trade in the 1850s and ‘60s allowed not only for more exports, but also for the participation of the Japanese in world expositions like the Exposition Universelle in 1867 (World Fair in Paris). Their presence helped create the Japonisme movement (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japonisme) and a demand for Japanese arts including highly skilled and detailed Japanese porcelains. At first, only wealthy Westerners could afford such luxuries as Japanese porcelain, but by the late 1890s, mass production became possible through the use of transfer prints, and more people could afford the cheaper wares. For instance, the 1895 Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue has a section for “Fine Japanese Tea Services”, and the Sears, Roebuck Catalogue from 1908 has a section on “Japanese China”, demonstrating their general popularity and affordable prices in turn-of-the-20th-century North America.
The popular Japanese porcelain patterns (Dragon and Phoenix) found at Horseshoe Bay were made
with transfer print technology – something that started in Japan in 1888 (https://apps.jefpat.maryland.gov/diagnostic/Porcelain/PorcelainWareDescriptions/JapanesePorcelain-intro.html from http://www.chipstone.org/article.php/515/Ceramics-in-America-2012/Late-Nineteenth--and-Early-Twentieth-Century-Japanese-Domestic-Wares-from-British-Columbia)
These could date anywhere from 1888 to WWII or even possibly later, but the biggest imports were
from the 1910s to the 1930s (https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/hjccc/data/hjccc-137.html).
Japanese porcelain dragon pattern, cup and saucer fragments
Three cup fragments and one saucer fragment of a mass-produced, transfer-printed Dragon porcelain
pattern were found in various locations at the site.
cup and saucer fragments with Dragon pattern
In Sinospheric (the Chinese cultural sphere – including Japan) mythology, the masculine dragon
(below on the right) was often paired with the feminine Hō-ō bird (below on the left).
1923 Chinese Coin showing Phoenix and Dragon
The dragon is a symbol of power, strength and good luck (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_dragon). The dragon is often depicted as a 4-legged sharp-toothed serpent with a mane, beard and whiskers, often with part of its body on fire. Being such a powerful symbol, it is not surprisingly a popular design (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_dragon). The almost complete base of one of the teacups is absent any marks, indicating that it is pre-WWII - as everything had to be marked after that.
The pieces show a variant of this pattern (note the pattern around the rim compared with the rim fragment
photographed above):
Example of Dragon pattern cup and saucer found online: https://www.lavitrinedecaroline.nl/en_GB/a-60361038/japanese-showa-porcelain/antique-japanese-arita-blue-and-white-dragon-cup-with-saucer/
Example of a hand-painted dragon on porcelain showing main features
https://www.pinterest.cl/pin/342344009147565398/visual-search/?x=10&y=11&w=460&h=619&cropSource=6.
Japanese porcelain “Phoenix” pattern 1910-1930s
A minimum of two saucers and three cups with the Phoenix pattern are represented by 9 porcelain
fragments. Variations of the Phoenix pattern (Phoenix Ware) exist, but all of them combine the Ho-o bird
(“Fenghuang” in Chinese), karakusa tendrils, and paulownia and chrysanthemum flowers. The Hō-ō bird
is not really a phoenix as Westerners know it. This is actually a mythical bird
The Phoenix pattern was common for Japanese exports to North America. There are several variations
of the pattern, and at least two of them are found in the Horseshoe Bay collection.
6 of the Phoenix pattern fragments found at Horseshoe Bay
Five of the pieces are similar the pattern seen below with this edge pattern (based on the Chinese cloud and mountain motif):
The Phoenix pattern from: https://i.etsystatic.com/18122017/r/il/874985/2315174317/il_794xN.2315174317_jfvm.jpg
The other piece has an edge decoration closer to this one:
Found here: http://www.chipstone.org/imgpublications/2/13/515/Ross-25.jpg
Or this one:
Found here:
These three from Horseshoe Bay also have a Phoenix pattern similar to the image above
One last Japanese fragment is from the spout of a teapot. It is made of heavier grey-bodied porcelain –
perhaps to be more sturdy, or cheaper version. The flower on the fragment appears to be a twisted lotus.
teapot spout fragment
The Blue Dragon Inn
None of the information above is particularly intriguing in and of itself, but in doing some historical
research for the report, I found a fascinating correlation. There were several Hotels at Horseshoe Bay
at different times. The Whytecliff Lodge, the Horseshoe Bay Hotel, were very popular and are still
remembered in the literature, but newspapers from 1917 into the 1920s mentioned an establishment
called the “Blue Dragon Inn” which I had not found in any Horseshoe Bay histories.
The Blue Dragon Inn was owned by Mrs. J. Dalgish and Miss G. Davies from at least 1917 to 1939
when it was sold the Blue Dragon Inn changed ownership and name to “The Chalet” that year
(The Province May 13, 1939, p.37).
A lady’s newspaper column in 1917 describing a day at Horseshoe Bay described the Blue Dragon Inn
thusly:
Now I really feel that I must tell you something about this same “Blue Dragon Inn.” To begin
with do not, from the name, run away with the idea that sumptious (sic) hotel accommodation
is to be found at Whytecliff, that is not so, but what really is there is a very attractive and delightful
concern, run by two enterprising and charming young women, who go out of their way to make
visitors comfortable, and serve dainty, appetizing meals, with an accompaniment of pleasant
words and smiles; not only that, but they serve all meals at strictly reasonable prices. A limited
amount of sleeping accommodation is also provided at the Inn, in rooms or tents, as preferred,
while all meals are served at small tables on a wide verandah, so that visitors practically live
in the open, though there is a comfortable lounge with easy chairs, fireplace and books for wet
days … I can safely say that those in need of complete rest, artist, or fishermen, could with equal
advantage and profit, spend a delightful holiday there (The Standard July 7, 1917, p.3 – UBC
Open Collections).
I suspect the name for the Hotel was based on the Oriental craze at the time which was as popular in the
Lower Mainland as elsewhere in the Western world. By 1914, even Bowen Island had its own Japanese
gardens designed by a man named Koga (Little 2011:43). The 14 fragments of blue transfer-printed
Japanese porcelain (esp. the Blue Dragon porcelain) found in this collection may have come from the
Blue Dragon Inn. From the photographs below and from the geological forms in the background, it
appears that the Blue Dragon Inn was located on the SE corner of Royal Avenue and Little Bay Street -
exactly where the archaeological collection came from.
“A view of Bay street in Horseshoe Bay”, West Vancouver Memorial Library 1302.WVML (Library says 1938, but
probably post-1939, and I believe it this was Royal Street as per photo below) https://digital.westvanlibrary.ca/2839357/data?n=4
A view of Horseshoe Bay 1937 (The Chung Collection, UBC open library) I believe the large building visible on the
right hand side of the photograph is the Blue Dragon / Chalet building (compare to previous image)
https://open.library.ubc.ca/search?q=%22A%20View%20of%20Horseshoe%20Bay%22
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