How many blue and white pieces sell each year?

Around 88 are listed a year on Sellingantiques, and 143 different dealers have handled them. That makes it one of the widest-carried groupings on the site rather than a specialist corner. You'll see it turning up in general stock as often as in ceramics-only listings.

Is blue and white always Chinese?

No. English titles and Chinese titles are the two largest origin blocks, running close together, with Japanese pieces behind them. Dutch, French and Italian wares appear in smaller numbers. The scheme began in Chinese porcelain and travelled by sea trade, prompting tin-glazed copies in the Netherlands and Britain, then mass-produced transfer-printed earthenware from the later 18th century.

What forms other than tableware turn up?

Washing and bathing wares are a persistent minor thread: footbaths recur, along with a toilet with seat, a patterned sink, ewer-and-basin sets and a milk pail. Apothecary vessels form their own small cluster, mostly 17th- and 18th-century tin-glaze, including albarelli, wet drug jars, a tobacco jar and a chemist's bottle. One-offs surface too: a tulipiere, a barrel garden seat, a Persian kendi, a dog bowl, a butcher's shop tile.

Are children's pieces part of this category?

Yes, and they run right through the range. At the lower end there's a miniature toy and a Dutch delft miniature armchair. Complete child's dinner and tea services sit near the top, where completeness counts for as much as it does in full-size services.

What does a named pattern in the title mean?

It means the dealer has identified the printed design. Willow, Italian, Greek, Tower, Caramanian, India Temple, Elephant, Wild Rose and Bridge of Lucano all appear in titles across the English transfer-printed block. 'Pattern' is one of the frequent words in the whole grouping. Named-pattern and named-factory listings sit consistently above the unattributed blue and white bowl or Delft charger.

Which pieces are the most specifically localised?

The tin-glazed ones. Delft accounts for roughly one in ten titles, and sampled Dutch and English examples name Bristol, Lambeth and named Delft factories. Elsewhere the labels are broader: Chinese export, Japanese Arita, Staffordshire. Faience covers the French and Italian tin-glaze under a single word.