rose isle pitcher

Volume 25Number 2, 2014
ROSE ISLE PITCHER
From the President
Dear Collector;
Hope your summer is going well and you have time to enjoy the
sunshine and perhaps a little antique hunting too.
A couple of our members have shared their creative use of broken
pieces of Belleek. They have made some beautiful wearable pieces
too. Please let us know if you have re used or recycled your broken
Belleek pieces, we'd love to hear from you.
We are really pleased with the 2014 Award for Best Visitor
Experience that Belleek won earlier this year. We know many of you
have visited Belleek and they really do a great job at making a visitor
feel welcome. While we are congratulating our team at Belleek,
we also want to congratulate this years winners of the Degenhardt
Belleek Collector Scholarships and a big thank you to Linda Beard
who makes this possible every year.
Rose Isle Pitcher 2014
Visitor Center Exclusive
In 1857, the buildings that became Belleek
Pottery were built on an island called Rose Isle,
situated on the River Erne beside the village of
Belleek.
In 2015 we are planning a Belleek tour to the Belleek Pottery,
for details immediately please follow us on Facebook. In the next
issue of the Belleek Collector, for those who like to read a copy, we
will publish the details as they are confirmed.
Enjoy some previews of holiday Belleek coming up for sale in
September at QVC and some more exclusive pieces to be found at
Crystal Classics, which also sells some of our Galway Irish Crystal.
Angela
All the best
Angela Moore
President, Belleek Collectors International Society
The Belleek Collectors International Society
Belleek Pottery, Main Street, Belleek,
Co. Fermanagh N. Ireland BT93 3FY
[e-mail collector@belleek.ie]
Best Visitor Experience of the Year 2014
Belleek Pottery Visitor Centre Manager Patricia McCauley proudly
holding the 'Best Visitor Experience of the Year 2014' award! Belleek
Pottery received the award at the Northern Ireland Tourism Awards
on May 29th.
Commenting on the award Patricia said –
‘This is a huge achievement and is the result of hard work and a huge
team effort by all of our staff here at Belleek Pottery. Well done to all
and we are looking forward to welcoming visitors from all corners of
the globe over the coming season and continuing to offer Northern
Ireland’s best visitor experience!’
Congratulations to the management and staff of the Belleek
Pottery and Visitor Centre! If you visit the Pottery this year be sure
to pat Patricia on the back from all of us at BCIS.
2
In the 18th Century the Caldwell family of
Castle Caldwell built a house on the Island. The
house was home to the Dowager Lady Caldwell,
grandmother of Sir John Caldwell who was John
Caldwell Bloomfield’s grandfather. John Caldwell
Bloomfield was the inspirational founder of the
Pottery and this house was called Rose Isle House.
Contemporary writers described it as a beautiful
house and remark on its magnificent gardens with
views of the river and waterfall. In the intervening
years until the Pottery was built, the house and
gardens became derelict. Still to this day in forgotten
corners of the Pottery grounds there are clusters of
non-native flowers growing, possible survivors of
the gardens once belonging
to Rose Isle House.
This beautiful Rose Isle Pitcher and Basket
encompass such a thought and are named in honour
of the once beautiful Rose Isle House and Gardens.
Belleek
for
QVC 2014 Rose of Tralee Show
The 2014, QVC Rose of Tralee Show will broadcast
in the USA on September 2, 2014. We thought you might
enjoy the story of this well know festival.
The Rose of Tralee International Festival is based on
the love song The Rose of Tralee, by William Mulchinock a
19th century wealthy merchant who was in love with Mary
O'Connor, his maid. Mary was born in Broguemaker's Lane
in Tralee and worked as a nanny. When William first saw
Mary he fell in love with her, but because of the difference
in social class between the two families their love affair
was discouraged. William emigrated, and some years later
returned to Tralee only to find Mary had died of tuberculosis.
He was broken hearted and expressed his love for her in
the words of the song.
The Festival as it is today stems from Tralee's Carnival
Queen, once a thriving annual town event, fallen by the
wayside due to post-war emigration. In 1957 Race Week
Carnival was resurrected in Tralee that featured a Carnival
Queen. A year later a group of local business people met in
Harty's Bar in Tralee and decided to revamp the Carnival in
a way that would regenerate the town, encourage tourism
and keep the race crowd in town overnight.
The new event would be called a festival and the
carnival queen contest turned into a celebration of the Rose
of Tralee song. Young women would also be sought from
outside Tralee, and heats were held as far away as London,
Birmingham, New York and Dublin with the help of local
Kerry people living abroad.
The first Festival was held in 1959. . Each Rose had
to be a native of Tralee, but this condition was relaxed in
the early sixties to be a native of Kerry, and in 1967 "Irish
birth or ancestry" became the criterion.
The first Rose was Alice O'Sullivan from Dublin,
followed in 1960 by Theresa Kenny of Chicago. Last year's
Rose was Haley O'"Sullivan from Texas..
If you recall a few years back we had the Washington
DC Rose in the Belleek Collector magazine, Belleek had
been a sponsor that year.
For the past several years QVC buyers have visited
Ireland for the festival and returned with very lovely pieces
for their Rose of Tralee Show. Belleek Pottery has created
many special pieces over the years for QVC and this year
we have some more beautiful pieces for you to preview.
The pieces pictured here are all exclusives for QVC.
As you can see they are for the holiday season. This will
be a great time to pick up some Christmas presents. All are
made in limited numbers too.
In time for Thanksgiving Belleek has gone back to its archives and reintroduced the Thanksgiving Turkey Vase. The
piece differs from the earlier production in that it is trimmed with hand painted platinum. If you missed this last time,
do take the opportunity to buy it now as it will be permanently retired.
New pieces for the Christmas season include a pair of Holly Mugs, hand painted holly sprigs lie atop a beautiful
woven basket relief. Just think how good your tea, coffee or hot chocolate will taste of these mugs. Remember you are
worth it! A wonderful hilly shaped dish with a hand painted holly sprig adds to the festive mood and is a great hostess
gift for some lucky family member. For information www.qvc.com
3
Recycle, Reuse, Reinvent your broken belleek
At last year's Belleek Convention in Las Vegas, I met Belleek Collector, Lesa Jordan, from Indiana. Lesa stood out
from the crowd because she was wearing some very beautiful pieces of jewelry.
As Lesa tells us herself.
" I'm going to share the story of how I started making my unique, one of a kind jewelry.
A mug we got at the New Jersey convention got broken, but the backs tamp was still
intact. I decided that creating a piece of wearable art would be a great way to recycle
and show my enthusiasm for collecting Belleek.
At the Chicago Belleek Convention, I spoke with a friendly dealer who agreed
that if she had any broken basket pieces, she would send some to me.
I then had the broken pieces I wanted to create as jewelry, specially cut and sized by
my china restorer. A jewelry completed the rest.
As you can see from the photographs, over the years I have created many unusual
pieces. It is so much fun to wear them and they have been conversation starters with
other Belleekers who can identify them immediately.
The imagination is only limited by the shape of the broken pieces. Not that I ever
want to see any broken bits of Belleek, but it does happen and if you can use any of
the pieces then its isn't a total loss.
Two piece dropped pendant
Below, Lesa modelling her
unique Belleek
Floral Necklace
Floral Necklace Back
4
Statement Piece.
Can you guess what these unique pieces of
Belleek jewelry started life as? In the next issue, Lesa
will let us know.
Meantime if you have a piece of
broken Belleek you have recycled, reused or reinvented,
we'd like to hear from you.
Mens Jewelery
Pictured at right, is a ring created by New Zealand chapter president, Eddie
Murphy. He tells us the origins this unique piece.
"About a decade ago, while visiting the Belleek Pottery, a group of us decided to
dig at the old rubbish tip or dump behind the Pottery; this is long since gone and buried
under the extended car park. We were digging, a bit like archeologists excavating a
site, in search of old pieces of earthen ware so that we could log the different patterns.
I found a couple of shards of earthenware with the first period mark on and we put
them to one side.
When I got home I got them out and decided one shard with a very clear first
period mark would make a nice ring. I looked through my jewelry because at that
time I used to collect rings , and I had a sovereign ring.,I took the sovereign piece
out and measured the ring, yes, if I ground it down a bit it would fit! I was asked at
the 1997 convention if I would sell my ring,but I had to say no because it meant I
would always have a piece of Belleek with me!.
At left is a pair of
hand painted Belleek
Cuff links, made a few
years ago. I hope you were
lucky enough to buy a set.
These beautiful pieces are
no longer in production.
Do any of you remember the Belleek Jewelry shown here, at
left. These pieces were made exclusively for our Belleek Collectors.
The hand painted flowered Bar Broach and the diamond shaped
cuff links with a dab of platinum.
We had thought these items of jewelry would be a hit because
they were a first for member only pieces. However, perhaps they
were a little too simple for our members tastes, only 30 pairs of
the cuff links and less than 50 of the brooches were sold. These
very low numbers make these pieces especially collectible. today.
So if you bought them, well done, you have some rare items.
Shamrock Shaped Dish
The shamrock is a three-leafed old white clover. It is known as a symbol
of Ireland the name shamrock is derived from Irish seamróg, which is the
diminutive version of the Irish word for clover (seamair).
Legend tells that St Patrick used the Shamrock to explain the Christian
doctrine of the Trinity to the High King of Ireland who was unable to grasp
the belief that the father, son and Holy Spirit could be the one person. St
Patrick plucked a shamrock and demonstrated how the plant had three leaves
leading to one stem. Thus one being could have three entities. Thereafter the
Shamrock became a symbol of St Patrick and that of Ireland.
This cute dish shaped like a shamrock and is both practical and useful
for all sorts of everyday occasions. In addition it has three hand painted
shamrocks delicately decorated by the skilled painters from Belleek Pottery.
You can fill this pretty shamrock shaped dish with your favorite confections
or use for jewelry. The superb Belleek craftsmanship gives it standalone
charm for display on table, dresser or mantel
Limited edition piece from www.crystalclassic.com
5
Belleek Exclusives for 2014
As collectors, besides wanting to know what Belleek what is producing in 2014,
we also want to know what exclusives are being produced. Exclusives are made for a
certain retailers and usually in limited numbers. They can only be purchased through
these outlets too.
Crystal Classics is an online retailer for crystal and china, they carry Belleek and
Galway Irish Crystal. You can find them at www.crystalclassics.com
Harp Shamrock Tea for One
In 1894 Fred Slater came to Belleek
to head the Design department. Soon after
he was asked to create a teaset design that
would epitomise Ireland.
Shamrock Handled
Spoon Rest
Some time later he began to conceived
the idea of what would become known
as the Harp Shamrock teaset, the shells
represented the seas surrounding the
country making Ireland an island, the harp
on the handles and finials represented the
culture and music of the land, lastly the
shamrocks on the pieces would represent
the people and were also symbolic of St
Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
Over a hundred and twenty years later this exquisite Harp Shamrock tea for one
has been added for all those tea lovers who singularly appreciate tea being made in
a proper teapot!
Steep a satisfying cup of tea in this charming tea for one set. The delicate, parian
china pieces are embossed with handpainted shamrocks. Includes teapot and teacup.
Is it not annoying having
nowhere to place ones cooking
spoon after stirring the contents of
the saucepan? Well Belleek have
introduced a spoon rest which is
both practical and decorative and
will solve this problem. It’s the
beautiful Shamrock handled spoon
rest which has the iconic basket
weave pattern and the delicately
hand painted shamrocks.
When not in use, this lovely
spoon rest can be decoratively
hung up and serve as a conversation
piece for the many Belleek
admirers.
2014 Culmore Heritage Vase
This lovely vase has hand
painted spring flowers in full
bloom with two shamrocks.
Belleek painters mix their own
delicate colors, each painters
style is different, some making
the flowers vibrant, others
making them soft and subtle.
None are alike.
This elegant scalloped
edge vase is 7" tall. It makes
a wonderful gift for someone
special! It is a Limited edition
of 500 for 2014.
2014 Sunflower Trinket Box
A beautiful keepsake piece from Belleek. An applied sunflower graces
the top of the trinket box along with two hand painted shamrocks that seem
to sway in the breeze. Buried inside on the bottom of the box, another dainty
shamrocks hides.A luckey Shamrock!
This darling keepsake box adds charm to table or dresser. A perfect
hideaway for jewelry or trinkets. Fill it with a special surprise and show the
special someone in your life how much you care!
6
804th US Tank Destroyer Battalion outside Crom Castle
Belleek Helps Commerate
D Day at Crom Castle
Pictured at right, is U.S. Consulate Gregory
Burton presenting a plaque to be placed next to
an oak tree which has been planted in the Belleek
Pottery garden to commemorate American soldiers
based in Fermanagh during WW11.
The plaque was received by Belleek Visitor
Centre Manager Patricia McCauley along with
children from the Belleek Controlled Primary
School and their teacher Esdelle Lappin at a D-Day
celebration held at Crom Castle on Friday June
6th.
The Masonic Grand Lodge of Ireland to Commemorative Plate
This plate, pictured above at right, was commissioned by The Masonic Grand Lodge of Ireland to Commemorate its
100th anniversary of the Lodge of Research 1914-2014.
Robert Armstrong, one of the founders of Belleek Pottery 1824-1884, presented a table service to Ederney Masonic
Lodge in the 1870s and this plate was developed from the original plate (pictured above left) and reproduced by Belleek
7
Designer Catherine .
Check with Patricia McCauley at visitorcentre@belleek.ie for more information.
New Zealand
Belleek Collectors Group
Richard K. Degenhardt Belleek
Collectors' Scholarships 2014
Dr Linda Beard - Chair of the Degenhardt Scholarship
- is pictured with Celtic Studies scholarship winners Caitlin
Ni Bhroin and Patricia Carr. Also pictured is Professor Bertie
O'Corrain - Director of the Irish and Celtic Studies Research
Institute.
Ceramic artists Ashling O’Hea and Conor McLean and
Celtic scholar Colm Duffin are this year’s winners of the Richard
K Degenhardt Belleek Collectors' Scholarships, international
scholarships of one year’s duration awarded annually to two
or three outstanding students from the University of Ulster
engaged in study in the fields of ceramics and Celtic studies.
A little while ago, UK Collector and a former
chairman of the UK Collectors Group, Eddie Murphy,
emailed to let me know he had been asked to be the
president of the New Zealand Belleek Collectors.
The awards were established to enhance students’
opportunities for personal as well as educational development.
Dr Linda Beard, founder and chair of the Richard K Degenhardt
Endowment, presented the awards of £650 each to the winning
students at a special presentation ceremony at the University’s
Coleraine campus.
The founder and president since its inception in
1996, David Montgomery, was stepping aside for a well
deserved break. Tony Thompson is the new treasurer and
his wife Glennis is the new secretary.
Ashling O’Hea, from Belfast, is a second year student
studying Fine and Applied Arts, specialising in ceramics. She
will use her award to take a ceramics course at Alfred College
in rural western New York and to fund visits to see other artists
and businesses working in ceramics in America.
I had to ask if Eddie and Linda were planning on
emigrating to New Zealand. Turns out that Eddie and
Linda had already attended the first Annual General
meeting of the group but via Skype. Businesses have
been video conferencing for a while now, so why not
Belleek Collectors?
The February meeting was
hosted by Tony and Glennis
Thompson iin Waipukurau.
Members visited Napier, a twon
destroyed by an earthquake in
1931 and completely rebuilt in
the original art deco style..
Conor McLean, from Belfast, is also a second year student
studying Fine and Applied Arts, specializing in ceramics. He
will use his award to help fund a residency with Nic Collins,
a full time potter living in Devon and participation in the
assistantship programme at the International Ceramic Research
Centre in Denmark, where he will be a technical assistant for
the artists-in-residence.
Colm Duffin, from Randalstown, is a final year Irish
language student. He will use his award to stay on Tory Island
for two weeks to study the grammatical structures in Donegal
Irish and their uses, and evolution of the Irish language in
the 21st century as a foundation for a proposed PhD in Irish
language.
With visits to members
homes to view their Belleek
Collections and a look at a
rare Saints Spill (see below)
Established in May 2001 and through ongoing fundraising
efforts, the Richard Kennedy Degenhardt Belleek Collectors’
Scholarship Endowment Fund is now worth some £64,000
($127,000). The scholarships are funded through the generosity
of many individuals and groups, including Belleek Collectors
world-wide, international Belleek Chapters, special friends
and family of Richard K Degenhardt, the Belleek Pottery and
the Belleek Collectors’ International S
8