Dessert Stand
ca. 1868 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This is a decorative stand for serving fruit or sweetmeats and could have been used on a variety of occasions. The Belleek ceramics factory in Ireland specialised in intricately modelled wares for which its fine porcelain and thin, lustrous glaze was especially suited. Requiring careful handling, such wares would have been for 'Sunday' or 'best' use only.
Manufacturer
John Bloomfield, the proprietor of Castle Caldwell on Lower Lough Erne, in Northern Ireland, discovered deposits of feldspar on his estates in 1852. The 1851 Great Exhibition in London had already stimulated his interest in ceramics. Worcester, and later other English companies, imported feldspar and the subsequently discovered kaolin (porcelain clay) from Castle Caldwell. With advice from W.H. Kerr of the Royal Porcelain Works, Worcester, Bloomfield ran trials in ceramic manufacture. Production had started by 1863 (possibly as early as 1857) with utilitarian earthenware kitchenwares and dinnerwares, sometimes transfer-printed. By the Dublin Exhibition held in Ireland in 1865 the company, now called Belleek, was able to exhibit stonewares, earthenwares and 'Parian' (unglazed white 'statuary' porcelain) figures. About 1869 orders were placed by the Royal Family.
Materials & Making
The Belleek factory began experimenting with porcelain production in 1863 on the arrival of William Bromley. He was previously foreman at the Staffordshire factory of W.H. Goss (1833-1906). The factory developed a truly hard porcelain using a high percentage of feldspar to kaolin. The shrinkage rate in the firing was considerable (one figure is known have reduced in size from 87 centimetres to 61 centimetres). This accounts for the celebrated thinness of Belleek's fine porcelain. The company also bought the patent for a lustrous glaze developed by the Frenchman J.J. Brianchon (died 1880). It was a great commercial success, and the wares produced with this glaze are among the most distinctive of Belleek's manufacture. The thinness of the porcelain and the iridescent glaze also encouraged the Belleek modellers to make extravagantly fantastical forms.
This is a decorative stand for serving fruit or sweetmeats and could have been used on a variety of occasions. The Belleek ceramics factory in Ireland specialised in intricately modelled wares for which its fine porcelain and thin, lustrous glaze was especially suited. Requiring careful handling, such wares would have been for 'Sunday' or 'best' use only.
Manufacturer
John Bloomfield, the proprietor of Castle Caldwell on Lower Lough Erne, in Northern Ireland, discovered deposits of feldspar on his estates in 1852. The 1851 Great Exhibition in London had already stimulated his interest in ceramics. Worcester, and later other English companies, imported feldspar and the subsequently discovered kaolin (porcelain clay) from Castle Caldwell. With advice from W.H. Kerr of the Royal Porcelain Works, Worcester, Bloomfield ran trials in ceramic manufacture. Production had started by 1863 (possibly as early as 1857) with utilitarian earthenware kitchenwares and dinnerwares, sometimes transfer-printed. By the Dublin Exhibition held in Ireland in 1865 the company, now called Belleek, was able to exhibit stonewares, earthenwares and 'Parian' (unglazed white 'statuary' porcelain) figures. About 1869 orders were placed by the Royal Family.
Materials & Making
The Belleek factory began experimenting with porcelain production in 1863 on the arrival of William Bromley. He was previously foreman at the Staffordshire factory of W.H. Goss (1833-1906). The factory developed a truly hard porcelain using a high percentage of feldspar to kaolin. The shrinkage rate in the firing was considerable (one figure is known have reduced in size from 87 centimetres to 61 centimetres). This accounts for the celebrated thinness of Belleek's fine porcelain. The company also bought the patent for a lustrous glaze developed by the Frenchman J.J. Brianchon (died 1880). It was a great commercial success, and the wares produced with this glaze are among the most distinctive of Belleek's manufacture. The thinness of the porcelain and the iridescent glaze also encouraged the Belleek modellers to make extravagantly fantastical forms.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Porcelain, with a lustrous glaze |
| Brief description | Dessert stand, porcelain with a lustrous glaze, Belleek pottery, Northern Ireland, ca. 1868 |
| Physical description | Dessert stand of porcelain, covered with a lustrous glaze, partly coloured pale yellow. In the form of three conventional shells conjoined with branches of coral in the middle to form a handle. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Gallery label | British Galleries:
A wide variety of decorative stands was used for serving fruit at dinner or at other entertainments in the home. In her household manual of 1888, Mrs Beeton illustrated pyramids of strawberries served on a similar three-lobed stand. The Belleek factory, ever-conscious of the sea and proud of their mother-of-pearl glaze, specialized in marine shapes like these shells and corals.(27/03/2003) |
| Credit line | Transferred from the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street |
| Object history | Made in Belleek, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland |
| Production | 3881-1901 to 3892-1901 purchased April 1868 by the Museum of Practical Geology |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Object Type This is a decorative stand for serving fruit or sweetmeats and could have been used on a variety of occasions. The Belleek ceramics factory in Ireland specialised in intricately modelled wares for which its fine porcelain and thin, lustrous glaze was especially suited. Requiring careful handling, such wares would have been for 'Sunday' or 'best' use only. Manufacturer John Bloomfield, the proprietor of Castle Caldwell on Lower Lough Erne, in Northern Ireland, discovered deposits of feldspar on his estates in 1852. The 1851 Great Exhibition in London had already stimulated his interest in ceramics. Worcester, and later other English companies, imported feldspar and the subsequently discovered kaolin (porcelain clay) from Castle Caldwell. With advice from W.H. Kerr of the Royal Porcelain Works, Worcester, Bloomfield ran trials in ceramic manufacture. Production had started by 1863 (possibly as early as 1857) with utilitarian earthenware kitchenwares and dinnerwares, sometimes transfer-printed. By the Dublin Exhibition held in Ireland in 1865 the company, now called Belleek, was able to exhibit stonewares, earthenwares and 'Parian' (unglazed white 'statuary' porcelain) figures. About 1869 orders were placed by the Royal Family. Materials & Making The Belleek factory began experimenting with porcelain production in 1863 on the arrival of William Bromley. He was previously foreman at the Staffordshire factory of W.H. Goss (1833-1906). The factory developed a truly hard porcelain using a high percentage of feldspar to kaolin. The shrinkage rate in the firing was considerable (one figure is known have reduced in size from 87 centimetres to 61 centimetres). This accounts for the celebrated thinness of Belleek's fine porcelain. The company also bought the patent for a lustrous glaze developed by the Frenchman J.J. Brianchon (died 1880). It was a great commercial success, and the wares produced with this glaze are among the most distinctive of Belleek's manufacture. The thinness of the porcelain and the iridescent glaze also encouraged the Belleek modellers to make extravagantly fantastical forms. |
| Bibliographic reference | Langham, Marian, 'Belleek Irish Porcelain' Quiller Press, 1993 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 3886-1901 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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