John Sikorski
SIKORSKI'S ATTIC
Dear John: I received the vase in the attached photo as a present from a very dear aunt who always gave what our parents thought were very adult and expensive presents to us children. My cousins and I always wondered how she knew exactly what would really interest us.
For my tenth birthday it was this small vase. It was perfect on top of my dresser and sparked a love of flowers which now I see may have been her purpose. Even as a child, I tried to keep it full of flowers, wild or bought by my parents. To this day I use it regularly and it always reminds me of her.
The porcelain is extremely thin, almost translucent. As you can see, the scalloped top is still perfect. It is 5 3/4 inches tall and about 3 inches in diameter. The flowers along the rim are three dimensional and are probably part of the mold, but the little flowers below I believe are hand-painted. On the bottom there is a complicated mark, photo attached, with Belleek and Ireland in it. Below as you can see there is also a number. I am really only interested in a little historym if possible — I would never sell it. Well maybe for a million dollars. — M.W., internet
Dear M.W.: Well I guess almost everything has its price! Irish Belleek has produced high-quality decorative porcelain and tableware since the mid-19th century. Belleek has been a popular category of collecting for decades. The company started business in 1857 in County Fermanagh, Ireland, and continues into current times. Belleek used a backstamp consisting of an Irish wolfhound sitting upright next to a harp with a round tower and a few sprigs of shamrock. The earliest mark was black; after World War II, the mark color was changed to green. The backstamp color on your vase is green, so it was made after World War II and likely in the 1950s.
During the 19th century in America, the Belleek name was almost a household term for high-quality porcelain. It was so widely recognized that American porcelain and china companies used the word Belleek stamped on the back of various porcelain products that did not even resemble the real Irish Belleek. Then, in the early 20th century, the Irish Belleek company sued, and the use of the word Belleek by American companies was dropped. By that time so much had been produced it has become a collecting category referred to as American Belleek. There is even a collector’s book titled “American Belleek.” So, you have a nice quality genuine Irish Belleek bud vase.
John Sikorski has been a professional in the antiques business for 30 years. Send questions to Sikorski’s Attic, P.O. Box 2513, Ocala, FL 34478 or asksikorski@aol.com.
August 09, 2020 at 12:30PM
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Belleek porcelain is a large category of collector interest - Citrus County Chronicle
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