Showing posts with label Belleek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Belleek. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Another White Wednesday

As I’ve posted Irish whites for the last two weeks, I thought I would also share my small collection of Belleek Parian china.







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This beautifully fine and translucent tableware originates in the town of Belleek, situated on the banks of the River Erne in
Northern Ireland.

With the exception of the one small terrier, my pieces are from the Shamrock Tableware collection. I did not acquire them in Ireland, however, but had them given to me by my gracious Canadian mother-in-law from her own china cabinet. Receiving them a few years into our marriage. I’ve had them for forty years now, and do not know how long Esther had them before that. I do know that their elegance will remain timeless.

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Pottery began in Belleek in the mid-nineteen century, when John Caldwell Bloomfield inherited his father’s estate, and looked for ways to provide employment for his tenants, robbed of their livehood and well-being by the Irish potato famine.


Since then, piece is made using techniques and materials handed down to new generations of craftsmen; and every brushstroke is still lovingly applied by hand.

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With my proclivity for awkwardness, I rarely bring them out, and handle them very carefully on those special occasions when I do! I love the glow they took on last night as I photographed them against the setting sun. I hope you find them as exquisitely beautiful as I do...

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For more on White Wednesday, do pop in and visit Kathleen at



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