Belleek.
The village of Belleek, county Fermanagh, Ireland, is situated on the banks of the river Erne, near the borders of Donegal and Fermanagh and on the outskirts of the Donegal highlands. It has a station on the Enniskillen and Bundoran line; which line communicates with Dublin, Belfast, and the various other lines of the kingdom. Belleek is within three miles of Ballyshannon; six of Bundoran; four of Lough Melvin, renowned for its salmon and trout fishery, and especially famous for the Gillaroo trout. It is also within short distances of Pettigo, Garrison, Devenish Island, with its monastic ruins and a perfect round tower, the beautiful park and grounds of Castle Caldwell, and many other objects of attraction.
Fig. 726.—The Belleek China Works.
The manufactory, a view of which is given on Fig. [726], stands on a small island in a bend of the river Erne. Near the bridge is a large water-wheel, over 100-horse power, which gives motion to grinding-pans, lathes, turning-plates, and all the varied and skilfully designed apparatus of the works. “In the interior, the factory bears all the appearance of business and bustle. Enormous grinding-pans, in which the raw material is prepared for the hands of the artisan, rumble and roar, driven by the irresistible and constant power of the large water-wheel; the furnaces of the great ovens, in which the moulded clay is baked, roar by the draught caused by their great height; while in the workshops the lathes and turning plates whiz noiselessly round, as the soft, putty-like clay is being deftly moulded by the skilled workman into many beautiful designs.”
The works at Belleek were established in 1863 by the present proprietors, Messrs. David McBirney and Robert Williams Armstrong. Before the establishment of the works, trials were made with the felspar of the Irish locality with ordinary Cornish china clay, at the Royal Porcelain Works at Worcester. The results were so satisfactory that Mr. Armstrong, who at that time was architect to the proprietor, laid the project for forming a manufactory at Belleek before his friend, Mr. David McBirney of Dublin, a gentleman well known for his energy in aiding any movement to advance the prosperity of Ireland, and he embarked with him in the attempt to produce first-class ceramic goods in Ireland. The firm, composed of these two gentlemen, trade under the style of “D. McBirney & Co.” There are now employed at the Works about two hundred “hands,” among whom are several skilled artists; the Art director being the founder and proprietor, Mr. Armstrong.
The chief peculiarities of the ornamental goods produced at Belleek are, its lightness of body, its rich, delicate, cream-like, or ivory tint, and the glittering iridescence of its glaze. “Although the principal productions hitherto have been formed of this white ware—which either resembles the finest biscuit (of Buen Retiro or Dresden), or almost the ivory of the hippopotamus, or shines with a lustre like that of nacre—local clays have been found which yield jet, red, and cane-coloured wares. Facsimiles of sea shells, and of branches of coral, which might well be supposed to be natural, are among the principal features. The iridescent effect produced is somewhat similar to that of the ruby lustre of the famous Gubbio Majolica; that Italian enamelled ware which commands such fabulous prices, and of which an unrivalled collection is to be seen at the South Kensington Museum. Lustres were introduced many years ago for English pottery by Hancock, by Gardner, and by Stennys; and in the booths of our country fairs, rude inartistic forms, glowing with a gold or a silver lustre, are often to be seen. The effect of a good lustre may be compared to that of “shot silk,” or to the changing hues that adorn the neck of a black or dark blue pigeon, or the crested pride of a drake. Oil of turpentine, flour of sulphur, gold solution, and tin solution, constitute the gold glaze, the purple hue being due to the tin. Platinum, and spirits of tar enter, with oxide of zinc, into the composition of the silver lustre. But neither of these glazes, any more than the Italian enamel of which the secret was lost so long ago as the sixteenth century, can compare with the beauty of the Belleek ware, an idea of which can only be given by recalling the beautiful hues of a highly-polished mother-of-pearl shell. We can convey no idea of it by engravings; and it seems equally difficult to do so by written description. We may apply to it the common-place expression: ‘It must be seen to be admired;’ and certainly it must be examined to be estimated. We can, however, with some degree of accuracy, represent some of the forms produced by this manufactory.”[70] Fig. [727] is the grounds-basin of a tea-service, made for the Queen (Her Majesty being one of the early patrons of the Belleek Pottery), and presented by her to the present Empress of Germany. The basis of the design is the echinus or sea-urchin, which abounds on the coast of Donegal, and has, both the native and rarer foreign species, been utilised by the firm in many of their productions. In this instance it forms the bowl, and the supports are branches of coral.
Fig 727.—Grounds-Basin: for the Queen’s Service.
