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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Belleek Newslettre (# 17.1)

** UPCOMING CONVENTION !!

We've FINALLY received ALL your pre-Convention
Registration information !! SO, LET's GET GOING !!

For a brief outline of our Convention, Click on the
following Link :

2013 B.C.I.S. Las Vegas Convention Information !!

For COMPLETE Registration Information, Click on
the following Link :

2013 B.C.I.S. Las Vegas Convention Registration !!

BOTH of the above files are in a PDF (Print
Definition Format) such that they may be Printed
out for your use in either 'Snail-Mail' Posting to
our Convention Committee at their address :

Ms. Melissa Barry Finch
2131 W. Summerdale Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625
USA

or by Scanning and E-mailing at your convenience
directly to Melissa at :

grifflissa@sbcglobal.net

Questions may be directed at any time to our
Convention Committee at Melissa's telephone :
1.773.728.9771 !!

PLEASE pass ALL this information on to EVERY
Belleeker friend and acquaintance so we may
enjoy a SPLENDID turnout and time !!

THANKS !! See you ALL there !!

Belleek Collectors’ Int’l Society
is pleased to invite you to attend
the 2013 Collectors’ Convention!

SAVE THE DATE

October 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th 2013

at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas

Nearest airport: McCarran Airport, Las Vegas

        Committee and Chair People are working hard and plans are
underway! Combine your love for Belleek, see old and meet new
friends, see the great scenery of Nevada as well as the famous
“Las Vegas Strip.”
        This is the Convention for “thinking outside the box!”
        It is our hope that our friends from all parts of the Belleek
collecting world will join us. There will be, before and after,
convention side trips offered to see the main attractions of Las
Vegas, in addition to a visit to “Old Fremont Street”.
        More details will follow with registration information.
Registration forms will soon be found on the Pottery Web Site.
Information will also be sent to previous attendees and chapter
presidents via e-mail.

A note from
Angela Moore,
BCIS president.

Let's party while we can.
All good things must come to an end.
This will be our LAST
Belleek International Convention.
It’s one not to be missed!
Our chapters are unable to host future conventions,
but, our sincere thanks go out to all those chapters
who played host to us at past conventions.
They were all great ones!
This last convention is being hosted by the members,
who have hosted earlier ones,
we couldn’t do it without them.
So, let’s go out in style! Belleek Style!
Special things planned,
we hope you can make it!!!!

** INTERNATONAL
CENTRE PIECE !!

Due to a slight oversight in my previous Newslettre,
I'm including Belleek's Announcement of their
FABULOUS International Centre Piece in this
issue as well !!

I had mentioned that in the Production of their
Canadian Centre, the Belleek Pottery substituted
Maple Leaves, in honour of Canadian heritage,
in place of each flowers natural leaf utilized
during the crafting on the original model !!

What I FAILED to mention, was that you may
view two of the three sides of this Centre Piece
in Richard K. Degenhardt's Second Edition to
Belleek the Complete Collector's Guide and
Illustrated Reference page 139 !!

Remember, the Pottery will ONLY be crafting an
EXTREMELY LIMITED Edition of a MAXIMUM of
FIVE of these SPECTACULAR Centre Pieces on a
first come and THEN produced basis !!

I am told that ONE is currently available !! When
it's sold, if NO additional orders are received, you
may NEVER again have this RARE chance of owning
this ultimate treasure and collectible !! ACT NOW !!

International Certre Piece !!

EDITOR’s NOTE : Due to MAJOR problems with
today’s printer software, I’ve Edited the International
Centre Piece Announcement into ‘halves’ such that if
you desire to Print this entire Newslettre, you will
obtain the complete picture without any loss due to
vertical ‘cropping’ !! I’ve also retrofitted this identical
idea into my Previous Newslettre with the
announcement and display of the Queen’s Jubilee
Basket !!

** HUMOUR ??

I’ve JUST got NONE today !! SORRY !!

** CANDLE SNUFFER UPDATE !!

I was pleasantly surprised to receive, from one of
our UK Group Members, the following as a comment
regarding my previous article, expounding some of my
random thoughts surrounding a dual candle snuffer
quizzically branded Madonna’s Bra !! I quote directly
from my contact :

“I have a couple of observations to make on your
article and hopefully to place my thoughts on the
origin of the decoration.

“Firstly I don’t agree that this piece would have been
for an organization or body of lesser standing
because it is made from earthenware, many large
dinner services with table accessories would have
been commissioned by nobility and landed gentry in
the early life of the Pottery when Parian was still
being developed. Perhaps the best known surviving
example, now distributed throughout numerous
collections is the massive Marquess of Donegal dinner
service, other individual earthenware items have been
bought by collectors over the years and bearing noble
insignia.

Marquis of Donegal Tureen !!

SPLENDID Marquess of Donegal Tureen !!
(complements UK Group)

A close-up of the
Marquess of Donegal Cress !!

(Courtesy UK Group)

“Within the ranks of British Peerage are 5 ranked
titles, from top to bottom, Duke, Marquess, Earl,
Viscount and Baron. These five titles all relate to
Peers of the Realm who have (or had) seats in The
House of Lords. (some ancient hereditary Peerages
have lapsed due to lack of male succession).

Editor’s Note : Marquess may be utilized
interchangeably with Marquis !! “Regalia for each
level of Peerage vary, including the coronet or crown
worn on State occasions.

“The coronet on your candle snuffer is that of a
Viscount which has 16 pearls around its circumference,
so on flat perspective shows 7, in use the coronet
would have an ermine band and be in-filled on top
with scarlet silk. On coats of arms etc. normally
only the basic coronet is used so no trimming shows.

Madonna's Bra !!

Re-examination of our Viscount's Seven Pearls !!

“The only other Peer’s coronet with pearls is a
Baron’s with only 6 pearls around the circumference
of the crown.

Editor’s Note : The other coronets also have pearls,
but are interspersed with strawberry leaves !!
(Refer to picture below)

“It follows most likely then that the inter-twined C’s
are the family Monogram, and this surmounted by the
coronet would form the family crest which is
different from a coat of arms designed by The
College of Heralds for a titled person or public body.

“Bearing in mind the era of production of the candle
snuffer, Ireland was under British rule and all Irish
Peers sat in The House of Lords, so many would have
chosen The Belleek Pottery to make their tableware
to promote Irish manufacturing rather than order
from a Staffordshire Pottery.

“For detailed images of all Royal and Peer’s crowns,
have a look for ‘Coronet of a British Viscount’ on
Wikipedia, the Viscount’s crown is then followed by
all crowns in descending order of rank from the
Monarch down.

“Hope this is of interest to you, . . . “

Examples of Each Coronet !!

Variety of Coronets,
The Viscount’s is displayed on the FAR Right !!

The five degrees of the Peerage all have different
coronets. In practice coronets are rarely, if ever,
worn today except at coronations. They are,
however, depicted on the majority of noble
coats-of-arms.

Another glance at 'Madonna's Bra !!

Although, its production appears that of an
Earthenware item, I do believe on closer examination,
this item is more probably Bone China, as is the
Marquess of Donegal Service ?? Belleek did some
experimentation in the firing of Bone China in their
early years and due to the extreme ‘whiteness’ of this
example, I would have to say it probably is fired of a
bone based slip ??

Another UK Group Belleeker (couple) forwarded me
an additional picture of another item depicting the
identical Monogram !! The only difference is the
border colouring of a turquoise in opposition to the
burnt orange displayed on the dual snuffer !! I would
speculate that this item was possibly utilized in a
son’s bedroom ?? I.e., the bluish masculine tint !!

Earthenware Candlestick with Identical Monogram !!

Earthenware Candlestick with Identical Monogram !!

Base of Candle Stick !!
(complements UK Group)

They were also kind enough to post me a very nice
picture of the etched engraving plate, courtesy
Belleek Pottery, utilized to produce our Monogram
in question !! As you may notice, this is neither the
most exacting nor precise etching ?? This particular
plate is very similar in respect to Belleek’s extensive
collection of plates, utilized in production of their
many decorative designs as well as their ‘Period’
Marks !! I believe you will all agree, due to the
manual hand etching of each different plate, we
can see many variations in the early Period Marks,
size being the most prevalent !!

Plate Utilized for Production of Decal !!

Plate Utilized for Production of Decal !!

                          The actual etched plate
                utilized in manufacture of our Monogram !!
                          (complements UK Group)

Speaking of etchings, I thought I just might finish
this off with a brilliant example of this masterful
and spectacular art form !! Extracting from a quick
Google Search, I quote :

“Amand Durand, born in Paris France, 1831, became
a master engraver early in his career. He deeply
admired the 15th, 16th, and 17th century Old
Masters’ engravings and saw how they lost quality
and faded from the ravages of time. This realization,
combined with in-depth research throughout public
and private collections of these masters, inspired
Durand’s dedication to recreate their images and
preserve the original quality for future generations.

“In 1895 Theo Van Gogh, brother and manager of the
infamous Vincent Van Gogh stumbled across the works
of this artist in one of his travels. He was so
impressed that he sought the artist out and spent an
evening with him in his home. Afterward he quickly
took to pen and paper to write Vincent to express his
enthusiasm for his artistic talents and intellect. The
Van Gogh brothers were just two of the many that
recognized Amand Durand's talents. However, it
would take years to unravel a story book mystery
that makes his works and talents even more famed
today.

“Amand Durand was a great admirer of Rembrandt.
He desired to study the plates and techniques of this
genius. Unfortunately at the time there only remained
about 100 known plates, which were available to
produce fine quality impressions. For 100 years the
bulk of Rembrandt's plates were shrouded in mystery.
As time moved on some of Rembrandt’s plates began
to surface. By this time Rembrandt’s plates were
miserably worn and dull. Amand-Durand, who by now
had made the ranks of a noted engraver, decided to
remedy this with his own gifted talents. He
researched and intensely studied pieces that were
available only in collections. From here on he spent
the major part of his life exactly duplicating
Rembrandt’s images onto copper plates. These
recreations were called Amand-Durand’s after
Rembrandt. Their unbelievable clarity and exactness
were achieved because Amand-Durand used as his
guide, not the worn and dull plates, but the first and
second state etchings of the master’s original works.
By this time Durand’s talent were known to experts of
the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1855, Conservator
of the Cabinet de Estampes, George Duplessis so
appreciated the genius of this man that he had his
work published in books which belong to the
Bibliotheque Nationale in France. Amand-Durand was
used as master etcher in an anthology of European
engravings, which became so valuable that they were
kept under locked scrutiny in most libraries. What we
have is a noted master duplicating a master some 200
years later.“

Rembrandt's Angel Appearing to the Shepherds !!

Rembrandt's Angel Appearing to the Shepherds !!

            The Angel (Gabriel) Appearing to the Shepherds
                            (original c1634)
              Size 8�” wide by 10�” tall (approximately) !!
             or 21�cm wide by 26cm tall (approximately) !!

Amand Durand Rembrandt Pressings are MUCH like
Belleek !! A very nice Copy may be purchased in the
hundreds of dollars !! Likewise, a ‘post’ life-time
Rembrandt will set you back another hundred fold
and a lifetime pressing can easily run in excess of
a thousand times that of a Durand !!

AGAIN, I would TRULY enjoy any additional
information or further speculation regarding this
monogram !! If any of you Belleekers out there have
any suggestions or ideas or ANOTHER item with a
similar or identical monogram all information and
pictures are greatly appreciated !!

THANKS to all whom have so generously provided
supplemental material from their research and
collections !!

** SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION !!

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 !!

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 !!

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 (T�l� first !!)
E-mail : delyicious@comcast.net
Web-site : The Beauty and Romance of Irish Belleek (or) :
http://delyicious.magix.net/public/index.html