Founded by Messers Armstrong & McBirney production was first began in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland in response to the discovery of excellent felspar deposits.
Combining with Cornish china clay would produce an extremely maliable clay that is both strong and fine.
Although based like many potteries on Domestic Wares, "fancies" were started about 1878, and found a ready market with discerning customers in both Britian and the U.S.
Belleek differs from many potteries in that they did not "decorate" with painting, transfers & such, but rather would highlight the subtle pale cream colour of the body and enhance it further with the use of lustre glazes.
The Lustre glazes were made with the addition of bismuth, oil of lavendar, and coloured by metal oxides.
Belleek is probably best known for its baskets, these signature pieces are so intricate that they take your breath away marvelling at such an amazing display of skill.
It must be noted that dating is not a precise art, most factories did not stop one Friday afternoon using one mark, then start the next Monday with a new one.
So all dates are approximate, there is some discussion that the Belleek Factory may have started earlier than 1863, but this has not yet been proved.
First Mark - Impressed / Black
c1863 - 1890
First production used an impressed mark, or a mark printed in Black. |
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Second Mark - Black
c1891 - 1926
Note the addition of the Banner underneath the name. |
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Third Mark - Black
c1926-1946
Note the addition of the Celtic device underneath. |
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Fourth Mark - Green
c1946 - 1955
Note, this is the first of the three "Green Marks"
Confusingly also known as the "First Green Mark" |
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Fifth Mark - Green
c1955 - 1965
Note, this is the same as the mark above but has a ® above the Banner. |
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Sixth Mark - Green
c1965 - 1980
Note the Banner has been considerably shortened. |
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Seventh Mark - Yellow / Gold / Brown
c1980 - 1992
Note the loss of the Celtic device, and the colour change.
The colour is supposed to be Gold, but in practice there are quite a few colour variations. |
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Seventh Mark - Yellow / Gold / Brown
c1993 -
Note the Banner has once again been enlarged. |
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