PREVIOUS
NEWS
Tuesday,
July 18, 2006
Belleek
Newslettre (# 10.3)
**
DOWN AND OUT !!
Around
the middle of May, I experienced the
most horrible of ALL experiences, which ANY of
us would NEVER wish for !! That
being,
my
Computer decided
to have a HDD Failure !! In
lay
mans terms, that’s
a Hard Disk Drive Failure
and to a Computer, it’s
like a Heart Attack !!
INSTANT
DEATH !!
In
any case, as my CPU returned from hospice,
ANOTHER LONG story, I was to discouver that
NONE of my Back-Up CD’s would Read !!
I.e., I
was left
with NOTHING for the past 10 Years !!
Since
that time, I believe I’ve recouvered MOST
of my Data, etc., so, I’m off typing up another
Newsletter for all my avid readers out there !!
If
you read my Newslettres regularly and DID NOT
receive an E-mail notification of this Newslettre,
PLEASE just drop me an E-mail and I’ll be sure to
get you BACK onto my Circulation list !!
THANKS !!
Of
course, if you’re NOT currently on my List and
would like to be in on my Mailing List, ALL you
need do is
to drop me a SHORT note indicating 'that
you would
like automatic notification of new
Newslettres' !! And,
BINGO, I'll ADD you to my
list and you'll begin
receiving upcoming
Newslettre notifications !!
For
those of you I've 'lost contact' with, if you
WERE receiving my Newslettre and have
NOT received
one in a bit,
it's MOST probably due to a Change
in YOUR E-mail ID
!! Post me,
i.e.,
E-mail, your
current ID and I'll get
you back on my list !!
**
THIS IS TRUE !!
"Women are
expected to do
twice as much as men
in half the time. Fortunately this isn't
difficult."
-- Charlotte
Whitton
1st Female Mayor of Ottawa, Canada
**
BIG TEASE !!
Within
the next couple of months, there will be
a
‘major’ Belleek Collection being offered for
sale !! I do
not have the Address, i.e., Internet
Link, of the final Web
Site, BUT I will be
publishing ALL available
information as it
becomes available,
hopefully, early in September
upon my return from
Summer Holidays at the Antique
Fair in Chicago !!
**
SPEAKING OF WHICH !!
**
CHICAGO SUMMER ANTIQUE FAIR !!
As
usual, the 2nd. largest antique fair in the
United States will again be held this Summer at
in Chicago at the Dearborn Convention Center,
the last weekend of August !! For complete
details you may visit the Fairs Official Site at :
http://search.goantiques.com/cgi-bin/
texis/scripts/resources/
framesethead.html?targeturl
=www.dolphinfairs.com
Or
you may wish to visit my Events Site at :
http://delyicious.magix.net/public/chicago.html
This Fair will
be celebrating their 30th
anniversary and promises
to be a GREAT
show !!
As usual, I
will be billeted at the Embassy
Suites, arriving on
Thursday evening
and departing
Sunday !! HOPEFULLY, some
of you Belleekers
out
there, will also be in attendance and will ring me
??
JUST call the Embassy Suites @ either (847) 678-4000
or (toll free) at (888) 476-7366, ask for my room
and leave your
name and number where I can reach you !!
** 2007 CONVENTION
!!
By
now, ALL of you should have received your
Spring BCIS Newsletter !! Included, you should
have discouvered an information bulletin and
registration form for our upcoming Convention
at the Belleek Pottery in Ireland, April 18 -
21, 2007 !!
I
won't repeat ALL the splendid information
here, BUT I will add a Link where you will
discouver identical information as well as a
Link JUST obtained, regarding a POST-Convention
Tour of Ireland !!
For
additional Registration Forms or Convention
Itinerary Information please visit the following
Site :
http://delyicious.magix.net/public/2007_conv_itenery.html
** GOOD THOUGHTS !!
We
all have our time
machines. Some take us back,
they're called memories. Some take us
forward,
they're called dreams.
-- Jeremy
Irons
**
SEARCH FOR THE SECRET SLIP !!
By now,
I’m sure all of you have heard the
calamity of the executive(s) from Coke ColaŽ
attempting to sell their privileged soft drink
component mixture to the executive(s) of their
rival Pepsi ColaŽ !! Fortunately, somewhere in
this corporate espionage, an honest hero arises
and informs the proper authorities of their foul
intent !! ZAPPED !!
In any case,
and from what I’ll be presenting
further on down, I begin pondering the secret of
Belleek’s success with Parian China production
through its processing techniques with the slip
utilized in the manufacturing !! So, exactly
what’s in Belleek’s Slip ??
First, a quick
definition of Slip
: A diluted clay
solution used for decorating or coating pottery or
for
casting in a plaster or rubber mold. Slip cast
ceramics are easily
recognized by their even
thickness (seen when broken) and smooth
interior.
Richard
Degenhardt discouvered that Belleek utilizes
China clay, feldspar, ground flint glass (common
window pane glass), frit (A vitreous or glassy
substance) and water in their ‘wonder’ Slip mix
!!
He also tells us the ratio of 32 ounces of water,
mixed with a pint of the dry ingredients, produces
the proper mixture !! What he doesn’t tell us, or
at least I didn’t discouver at this time, was the
ratio of the dry ingredients !!
Word of the Day
: Avoirdupois (av'ərˇdəˇpoiz') n.
The ordinary system of weights of the United States
and Great Britain in which 16 ounces avoirdupois
make a pound !!
Now, I remember
a little jingle from grade school :
“A pint a pound, the world around” !! So,
are we
saying that the basic Belleek slip is approximately
two parts water to one part dry mix ??
And, what
exactly is a ‘part’ ?? Well, parts
eventually relate to percentages, except, that
when we work with parts, the whole part or mix,
if you will, does not have to comprise 100% !!
One
informal definition for a part is : One of the
individual entities contributing to the whole as
in a component or ingredient.
An every day
example of parts, is in the composition
of concrete !! Concrete
is typically
proportioned
as 1:2:5, i.e., one part of cement,
two parts of
sand, and five parts of broken stone or gravel, with
the
proper amount of water for a pouring consistency !!
Note, the
sum of the three
parts only total eight !!
Also, note, that the
‘proper’ amount of
water is NOT
specified !! So, basically, a part could be
anything
from a teaspoon to a truckload, as long as it’s the
SAME or
consistent measure of each part !!
Further research lead me to the Ulster Museum, and a
document from their library stating that (Belleek’s)
composition was sixty-seven parts of artificially
crushed feldspar to fifty-five of kaolin (China clay) !!
Although they did not
reference the
additional dry
ingredients, I believe from
this statement
that we
may assume, these are
the
‘major’ components of
Belleek’s
Slip !!
As a side note,
the Ulster Museum also mentioned,
that in their production of electrical and telegraph
insulators, that Belleek utilized a slip mixture of
72% feldspar !! NOW, that’s virtually
‘real’ glass !!
Another quick
definition :
Feldspar : geologically,
a group of many types of silicates, mainly
utilized
in making glass, etc. !!
So, you can see where we’re going from here, as you
increase the feldspar content or ‘parts there-of’,
the closer to actual glass we get !! Thus, you can
see why Belleek is sometimes said ‘to be very close
to glass’ !!
From my reading
and studies, of the three principal
founders of the Pottery, Mr. Robert Williams
Armstrong appears to have been the most involved
with the testing of the various slip formulas in
the production of different wares !! In an
un-authored article in the Belleek Collector,
Volume 10, Number 2, 1999, I quote : “By 1875,
Belleek’s ever increasing portfolio included
“ Earthenware, Stoneware, White and Ivory China,
Parian and tiles.”
This intrigued
me, as VERY little mention, in ANY
reference, is made to Belleek’s Stoneware, more
less any mention of ‘White’ China !! So,
I
continued my investigation !!
But, before I
proceed, I’d like to
introduce
several definitions from the (on-Line) Wikipedia
Dictionary of
EACH item that Belleek was
including in its product line :
PORCELAIN (Originally, CHINA, from that country) :
“Porcelain
is a hard ceramic
substance made by
heating at high temperature selected and refined
materials often
including clay
in the form of
kaolinite. Porcelain
clay when mixed with water
forms a plastic paste which can
be worked to
a
required shape or form that is hardened and made
permanent by firing
in a
kiln at temperatures of
between about 1200 degrees Celsius and about
1400
degrees Celsius. The toughness, strength and
translucence of porcelain
arises
mainly from the
formation at high temperatures within the clay
body of
the
mineral mullite (an aluminum silicate)
and glass.
“Porcelain
was so-named after its resemblance
to
the white, shiny Venus-shell, called in old
Italian porcella.
The
curved shape of the upper
surface of the Venus-shell resembles the
curve of
a
pig's back (Latin porcella, a little pig, a pig).
“Properties
associated with
porcelain include
those of low permeability, high strength, hardness,
glassiness, durability, whiteness, translucence,
resonance,
brittleness, high
resistance to the
passage of electricity, high resistance to chemical
attack,
high resistance to thermal shock and high
elasticity. (ED
NOTE : Elasticity, here, refers
to the
ability to mold the slip or clay
satisfactorily, i.e., it’s flexible and
pliable
attributes prior to firing, NOT the idea that you
can bounce a plate off a wall successfully !!)
“Porcelain
is used to make wares
for the table and
kitchen, sanitary wares, decorative wares and
objects
of fine
art. Its high resistance to the
passage of electricity makes porcelain
an ideal
insulating material and it is used in dentistry
to make false teeth,
caps and
crowns.
“The
earliest porcelains
originated in China.
The
reader is
referred to the Wikipedia article on
Chinese porcelain for a discussion
on the
early
history of the material.”
EARTHENWARE
:
“Earthenware is a
common ceramic
material, which
is
used extensively for pottery tableware and
decorative objects. Although
body
formulations
vary tremendously between countries, and even
between
individual
makers, a generic composition
is 25% ball clay, 28% kaolin (porcelain
clay),
32%
quartz, and 15% feldspar. Earthenware is one of the
oldest
materials used
in pottery. While red
earthenware made from red clays is very familiar
and
recognizable, white and buff colored
earthenware clays are also
commercially
available
and commonly used.
“Earthenware
is typically bisque
(or "biscuit")
fired at a temperature of around 1000 to 1150
degrees
Celsius
(1800 to 2100 degrees Fahrenheit),
and glaze fired (the final firing)
at around
950
to 1050°C (1750 to 1925°F). The higher firing
temperatures that fuse the
body and glaze of other
ceramics, will generally cause earthenware to
crack.
After firing the body is porous and opaque with
colours ranging from
white to
red depending on the
raw materials used.
“Earthenware
may sometimes be as
thin as bone
china and other porcelains, though it is not
translucent
and is
more easily chipped. Earthenware
is also less strong, less tough, and
more porous
than stoneware - but its low cost and easier
working compensate for
these
deficiencies. Due to
its higher porosity, earthenware must usually be
glazed in
order to be watertight.”
STONEWARE :
“Stoneware
is a category of clay
and a type of
pottery
distinguished primarily by its firing
and maturation temperature (from
about
1200°C
to 1315°C). In essence, it is man-made stone.
“In
contrast, earthenware is fired
at lower
temperatures and is not impervious to liquids.
Porcelain, a
type of
stoneware developed in
China,
is
distinguished by the type of clay
used, kaolin, resulting in a pure
white
color.
Kaolin, or China Clay, which occurs in various
parts of the
world, is
often 95% free of
impurities. It is also fired to a vitreous state,
transforming the constituent silica to glass.
Some porcelain bodies are
translucent after
firing. Firing a piece of pottery to too high
a
temperature
will result in warping or melting.
Vitreous clay bodies can be made at
different
temperatures ranges, but they are typically
fired in the
stoneware/porcelain range. Fired
stoneware absorbs up to 5% water,
porcelain
0%,
and earthenware up to 10%. Earthenware, when
moist, is typically
not freeze
resistant.
“Clay
refers
to minerals of a
plastic quality
formed primarily of alumina and silica. Potters
refer
to
combinations of clays mixed with other
materials as clay bodies.
Different
kinds of
clay bodies are created by mixing additives,
such as feldspar,
grog,
quartz, flint, many
other minerals are used and these can include
spodumene,
wollastonite to modify natural clays.
Natural clays are thereby altered
to fire
at
specific temperatures. Darker clays often
contain iron and other
metal oxide
impurities.
The clay used for porcelain and white stoneware
clay bodies
contain
very little of these
impurities.
“Glaze
may
be applied to stoneware
pottery before
a second firing at a different temperature, or a
glaze
may be
applied before a single, raw firing.
Salt-glazed stoneware became the
dominant
houseware of nineteenth century America.”
BONE CHINA :
“Bone china is type
of porcelain
body first
developed in Britain
in which calcined ox bone,
bone ash, is a major constituent. It is
characterized
by high whiteness, translucency
and strength.
“Bone
ash
was first used in
ceramics by Thomas
Frye
in 1748 to make a type of
soft-paste
porcelain. In the late 18th century, Josiah
Spode further
developed
its use by mixing it
with china clay, kaolin and China
stone to
compete with the
imported Oriental porcelain.
“Production
usually involves a two
stage
firing where the first, biscuit, is without
a glaze at
1280°C (2336°F)
gives a translucent
product and then glaze, or glost, fired at a
lower
temperature below 1080°C (1976°F).“
“PARIAN
: (adj.)
1. Of or relating to the
island
of Páros
or its
inhabitants.
2. Of or being a
type of white, semi translucent
marble quarried at Páros and
highly valued in
ancient times for making sculptures.
3. Of or being a fine
white porcelain.”
Note, that the word Parian is JUST an simple
adjective, meaning that its
proper utilization
is as a modifier to a noun !!
There is NO
individual definition of Parian as a porcelain
itself, BUT only as
you see in (3)
above,
utilized to specify a type of china !! Thus,
we discouver the
synonymous naming for
our
lovely Irish Belleek Parian
China
!!
NOW, where was I going with all this ??
**
MORE EGG CUPS !!
This
spring, I found myself again, the
successful bidder on a pair of E-Bay Auctions,
both for an Egg Cup !!
Fortunately,
the Pottery, via its Old Pottery
Photograph Album, has provided us with a
documented history of many of its more elaborate
items, many of which, are either no longer in
production or not know to exist in any modern
collections !!
On
the other hand, the smaller, more prevalent
production items were, seemingly, only displayed
in Pottery catalogues and sometimes not even via
this media !! I would speculate that this was
due to the labour intensive photographic process
of the 19th Century ??
In
any case, what appears below, in a now modern
photograph, is a picture, for your discernment,
of both my recent acquisitions !! Unfortunately,
I have been able to discouver VERY little of
either Egg Cup !!
The
Egg Cup on the right is 1st Period and the
ONLY reference I can find to it is in Lady Marion
Langham’s Major Work “Belleek Irish
Porcelain”,
page 112, lower right picture, bottom row, right !!
The Egg Cup in her photograph is MUCH ‘nicer’ in
that is painted a ‘lime’ green and gilt
!!
I
currently have designated this Egg Cup ‘Shell’
Pattern although, I’m toying with the possibility
that it may be an ‘early’ example of either
Institute or Victoria Ware ??
ANY
help you Belleekers out there can provide
is, as always, GREATLY appreciated !! Keep in
mind that the pattern need include BOTH
ridges from shell surfaces as well as coral !!
The
Egg Cup on the left is also a 1st Period piece
and I believe it to be of Belleek’s Earthenware
Production Ware ??
My
query here, is whether or not this is the (fine)
White China that (Armstrong) references in his
journals ?? If so, I believe that this would be
included in one of the Pottery’s experimental
formulas involving Bone, i.e., Bone China Ware ??
Again,
ANY further discussion my readers may
provide will definitely enhance this topic !!
The
reason for presenting both Egg Cups in a single
frame,
was such that you may clearly distinguish
the
White (Bone) China from the Ivory (Cream) Colour
China
we most associate with the production at
Belleek
!!
A
pair of unusual First Period Egg Cups !!
BOTH
are 1st Period !!
Bone
Earthenware (I believe) on the left and
Shell
Pattern (for lack of better name) on the right !!
ENJOY and see
ALL of you at the 2007 Convention !!
Belleekingly,
Del E. Domke, Belleek Consultant
16142 N.E. 15th. Street
Bellevue, WA
98008-2711
U.S.A.
Telephone : 1 (425) 746-6363
Message : 1 (425)
746-6363
FAX :
1 (425) 746-6363
E-mail
: delyicious@comcast.net
Web-site : The
Beauty and Romance of Irish Belleek
(or) :
http://delyicious.magix.net/public/index.html