PREVIOUS NEWS

Monday, September 4, 2004

Fellow Belleekers !! (lettre # 8.3)

**  NEWSLETTRE NOTES !! **

Well, I've FINALLY quit procrastinating and completed 
a LONG overdue task, that of 'lightening' up the 
Background Smilies on my Newslettres !!  I KNOW 
that many of you loyal Belleekers have been waiting 
a LONG time for this enhancement, so PLEASE let 
me know if your wait has been rewarded ?? 

Of SPECIAL note, the UK Belleek Collectors' Group 
has AGAIN produced a spectacular Newsletter of 
46 pages containing a wide range of articles of 
immense interest to all !!  If their current
Newsletter is not yet available On-Line, it WILL
be shortly !!  In the meantime, you will discouver
volumes of superbly researched material on their 
Web Site at :

    http://www.belleek.org.uk/

** MICHIGAN IS ALIVE
      IN 2005 !! **

The Great Lakes Chapter is inviting you to meet us 
in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  We are hosting the 
Belleek Collectors' International Convention 
September 8, 9 and 10 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  
It is 5 minutes from the Gerald Ford Airport that 
has connections to the major airline hubs.  This 
is just a notification of the Convention.  

Registration forms and final information should be 
available in the upcoming Belleek Collectors' 
Newsletter !!

As information is available, you can contact our 
Convention Coordinator Phyllis via E-mail at : 

            phyllisbagnall@msn.com

OR her assistant Beth at : ricklebl@aol.com

Phyllis tells me that Grand Rapids is quite the 
historic area with something to do for EVERYONE !!
This promises to be a GREAT Convention for all !!

** CONVENTION COOKBOOK !! **

The Great Lakes Chapter would like to put a cookbook 
together and have it ready for the 2005 Convention in 
Grand Rapids, MI.  If anyone in your Chapter would like 
to submit a yummy dessert recipe worthy of serving on 
or in pieces of Belleek, please have them submit them 
to me as soon as possible.  And if they have a picture 
of the dessert, even better.  Send that along also.  
 
The recipes can be sent to :

        Ms. Phyllis Bagnall
        10295 Carriage Way
        Davison,  MI    48423 

or they can be emailed to phyllisbagnall@msn.com !! 

Don't hold back on us.  Send us your very best to 
ooohhh and aaaahhh over and be included in this 
unique book.  Be sure to include your name, address, 
phone no., email address and where your recipe 
came from or a story about it.

** SPEAKING OF ?? **

The # symbol is often referred to as a "number sign" 
or "pound sign." Its actual name is an octothorpe !!
 
** CHICAGO SUMMER ANTIQUE FAIR !! **

WOW, is a word that unfortunately just cannot do 
justice to my recent excursion at the Chicago Summer 
Antique Fair !!  As usual, it was a MOST unforgettable 
event !!  I will expound more on my travels and 
adventures in my upcoming Newslettre, as I have 
some recent correspondence, regarding a past 
Newslettre, I would like to share with all you 
Belleekers here !!

** REGARDING MINIATURES !! **

Some VERY fine Belleeker friends of mine contacted 
me, following my latest Newslettre publication, with 
additional information regarding Crested Miniatures !! 
I will quote their E-mail here directly :
 
"Having read your latest newsletter, I was prompted 
to search through my Crested China collection for 
Dublin items. I have the same little Belleek dairy 
creamer as you have and with the same detailing on 
the crest.

"I collect Irish items from other makers, so have done 
a comparison, firstly Nautilus Porcelain, made at The 
Possil Pottery, Glasgow, Scotland 1896 - 1913.  Nautilus 
made numerous crested smalls during their 17 year 
existence and pictures 2725 and 2726 (ed. note : NOT
shown) are two examples, and with different crests, 
exactly as the Belleek ones do. Picture 2724 (ed. note :
see below) is from a Goss loving cup and bears only a 
small version of the Dublin coat of arms. So there we 
have 3 totally different representations of the Crest of 
The City of Dublin, historically many Administrative 
Authorities of Local Government had variations on 
insignia and armorial representations depending upon 
the use of a particular document or object bearing 
those arms, the subject is very complex and I certainly 
don't profess to have an answer to your question. 
Another related fact goes back to the whole origin 
of crested souvenir china small items and the massive 
upsurge of demand in the early 20th century.

"With the advent of travel for recreational purposes 
and holidays by the sea which began to become popular 
towards the end of the 19th century, people began to 
want to take home a souvenir of a resort or town they 
had visited and W H Goss were quick to see this as an 
opportunity to create a whole new business venture, 
so they began to produce crested china items, using 
as their models ancient artifacts from museums, usually 
of Roman or Grecian origin. Very quickly dozens of 
other china manufacturers jumped on the band wagon and 
started their own lines in crested and souvenir china 
to satisfy the fast expanding market.

"Returning to the different crests for the same towns, 
I have many other good examples of this, particularly 
Belfast where there were three different crests 
regularly used, and certainly where there were not 
officially different crests, this is where artistic 
license comes into being. Lithographic prints were not 
always produced in-house at all the potteries who were 
making crested china souvenirs, and as a complex 
process most potteries would have sourced their 
supplies from specialists, hence the reason for 
identical crests appearing on items from different 
potteries. Looking at my 2 Nautilus pieces and your 
2 Belleek pieces, it is quite possible that both 
sourced the monochrome lithographs from the same 
place, and only hand tinted them after application 
of the transfer. If a pottery purchased monochrome 
lithographs, they would have been supplied with a 
colouring instruction so to apply the correct colours, 
and, if two sets of lithographs were purchased from 
different sources, they could well have had different 
colouring instructions.

"Now what happened if a small town did not have a coat 
of arms or crest to copy?? Well the Goss factory made 
one up and used appropriate local influences to make 
the crest look genuine, Picture 2723 is a lovely 
example, with a Goss pot bearing a crest for Castlebar 
(ed. note : see below) which is in County Mayo, Ireland. 
No prizes for guessing where the inspiration came from. 
I have seen a very similar crest looking like the 
Belleek trademark from Tullamore in County Offaly."

There is more information on the Goss Collector's 
website at :

          http://www.gosscollectorsclub.org




Above, left, we see a WONDERFUL example of a Goss Crested Miniature !!
            Again, note the different City of Dublin Crest !!
            To its right, a MAGNIFICENT collectible Crest,
            reminiscent of our Mother Pottery, Belleek !!
      Photo courtesy of Chris and David, Members Emeritus,
        UK Belleek Collectors' Group !!  MANY THANKS !!

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