Belleek porcelain (frequently pronounced "Bleak" by those who do not
know the derivation of the name) is a thin eggshell ware of great
lightness and translucency, characterized by a creamy, or sometimes
grayish, tint, and usually covered with a delicate pearly or lustrous
glaze. It is in reality a variety of Parian ware, being formed in the
same manner by the process called casting, or pouring diluted clay or
slip of the consistency of cream into plaster moulds, which, by
absorbing a part of the moisture from the portion of the liquid
preparation in direct contact, retain a thin shell of partially dried
clay after the superfluous contents are taken out. After standing a
few minutes the thin cast can be liberated from the mould. The
thickness of the walls, of course, depends upon the length of time the
slip is allowed to remain in the mould before the surplus is removed.
By this ingenious method cups, saucers and other forms of ware can be
made almost as thin as an egg shell or a piece of heavy paper, and
after being allowed to become thoroughly dry can be safely burned in
the kiln. It can readily be understood that it would not be possible
to make such fragile pieces by the usual processes with plastic clay,
which must be of the consistency of putty or dough, on the potter's
wheel or by pressing in moulds.
Belleek ware was first made at Stoke upon Trent by the eminent potter
William Henry Goss, who invented the body or composition some
thirty-five years ago; but it was not then known by this name. Soon
after its introduction Messrs. McBirney & Armstrong induced some of
Mr. Goss' workmen, including his manager, William Bromley, to join
them at their porcelain works, then recently started (in 1863) in the
town of Belleek, County Fermanagh, Ireland, and the art was
established so successfully there that the name of the village was
given to the ware which has since become so noted. The distinguishing
characteristic of this beautiful product is its lustrous glazing,
which varies in form from white to yellow and through graded tints to
a dark leaden hue.
Mr. Goss has continued to manufacture this dainty variety of porcelain
until the present time, and his factory has become one of the most
noted in the British empire. Among the most popular of his productions
in this body are loving cups and little cream jugs, cups and saucers,
and fairy tea sets embellished with beautifully colored crests and
coats of arms of the different English cities and of prominent
personages, such as Queen Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh, King Henry of
Navarre, Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales, Shakespeare, Sir Walter
Scott, and Robert Burns.
Of more interest, perhaps, to Americans are the porcelain tumblers
which have just been produced at the same factory, bearing on the
front a faithful duplication in blue and yellow enamels of the
insignia of the society of Sons of the Revolution, which were made at
the suggestion of a member of the society in Pennsylvania. The soft,
satiny Belleek body seems to be particularly well adapted to show off
to advantage the rich designs of these badges, and this suggestion
will doubtless be followed by other patriotic hereditary societies in
the United States.
John Hart Brewer, of Trenton, first attempted the manufacture of
Belleek ware in this country. He commenced his experiments in this
line in 1882, and in the following year brought over from England
William Bromley and his son from the Belleek works in Ireland.
Subsequently the elder Bromley joined the Willets Manufacturing
Company, of the same place, and introduced the manufacture of eggshell
porcelain there, and at the present time there are no less than five
or six establishments in Trenton where the same class of ware is made.
Among many specialties recently introduced is a new style of
decoration which has been worked out by Miss Kate Sears, a Kansas girl
who studied modeling in Boston. Going to Trenton for the purpose of
pursuing her studies in this direction, one day in 1891, while engaged
in working over the wet Belleek, the idea of carving delicate designs
in the dry clay occurred to her, and after conducting a series of
experiments her efforts were crowned with success. The process of
modeling which Miss Sears has originated is as follows: A vase or
other piece which has been formed in the wet clay and dried is taken
before it has been in the kiln, and with knives or other tools the
design is cut or chiseled so as to leave the background as thin and
transparent as possible when finished. As the dry Belleek, besides
being thin, is extremely brittle, and crumbles easily, the carving is
an exceedingly difficult operation. It is necessarily a very slow
process, since at any moment the knife is liable to cut through the
wall and ruin the piece.
The result of this process is a clear cut, chiseled effect, which
cannot be obtained by moulding or casting, a moonlight effect of fairy
like character, most beautiful in conception, and possessing marked
originality. While sometimes several weeks are consumed in executing a
single piece of the carved ware, Miss Sears has produced a large
number of such designs, each one of which is a perfect work of art,
reflecting credit upon the artist and the manufacturers.
The marks which appear on the various productions of Belleek porcelain
are of considerable interest to collectors and admirers of this
beautiful ware. Mr. Gross has adopted as a factory mark his family
crest, a falcon rising ducally gorged, which is printed on each piece
in black. The mark of the Belleek factory in Ireland, consists of the
four Irish emblems, the watch tower, the hound, the harp of Erin, and
the shamrock, and is printed on the ware in green or black. At the
Etruria Pottery, formerly operated by Messrs. Ott & Brewer, now known
as the Cook Pottery Company, the mark used on Belleek ware was a
crescent bearing the name with the initials of the proprietors, "O. & B."
The Willets Manufacturing Company uses for a factory mark on its
decorated Belleek pieces the figure of a serpent looped in the form of
a W, which is printed in red. On similar ware produced by the Ceramic
Art Company is printed in red a design composed of a painter's palette
and a circle inclosing the monogram C. A. C., while Messrs. Morris and
Willmore, of the Columbian Art Pottery, employ a shield with the
initials of the firm name, M. W.
The manufacture of Belleek ware was introduced into this country by
English potters who had learned the processes at the potteries in
England and Ireland, and we cannot, therefore, lay claim to
originality so far as the product itself is concerned; yet, in a
measure, the ware as made in America differs materially from the
foreign in many respects, and has been developed in new directions, so
that it has come to have distinctive characteristics of its own which
entitle it to be ranked with original American productions. While our
potters, perhaps, have not yet reached the high degree of elaborate
modeling which characterizes some of the imported Belleek, they have
already surpassed the foreign manufacturers in the simplicity and
elegance of their forms and the artistic quality of their decorations,
while in delicacy of coloring, in the excellence and lightness of
body, the American products are not surpassed. A visit to the
showrooms of the Trenton potteries will prove a revelation to those
who still believe that no artistic china is made in this
country.--Edwin Atlee Barber, in China, Glass and Lamps.
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