Belleek Dish

Dish by Belleek made from porcelain, it has a transfer printed of the London Exhibition 1908.

The dish shows a thatched Irish cottage. The illustration is entitled 'Model Cottage, Ballmaclinton, Franco-British Exhibition, London 1908'. The dish is a commemorative souvenir of Ballmaclinton model village. Underneath there is a second period Belleek Stamp.

Belleek was established in Fermanagh in 1857. Belleek is associated with luxury porcelain dinnerware and gifts. In the late 19th and early 20th Belleek's main markets were international. Only a small percentage of its wares were sold in Ireland. 

The dish depicts the town Ballmaclinton. Ballmaclinton was a 'model village' that represented an ideal Irish village in various national and international exhibitions from 1907 – 1924. The model village was designed by Brown and Son Soap Company of Co. Tyrone to market their products for corporate profit. Ballmaclinton contained thatched cottages, a replica round tower, an ogham stone, a Galway fisherman's cottage, a village shop, a Post and Telegraph office, a forge, a laundry, a replica of the Blarney Stone, a restaurant, a sanatorium, a village hall, an industrial hall, and houses filled with 'genuine colleens at work at lace, embroidery, carpets'.

Commercial exhibitions gave countries like Ireland a platform to exhibit their achievements abroad. The model village painted an aspirational picture. Replete with displays of Irish progress, Irish industrial achievements, Irish art and architecture, it sold the idea of a prosperous, innovative, 'new' Ireland in the 20th century.

Object Number: DC:1970.63

More Information:
Belleek, An Enduring Heritage (1977) Directed by Roy Spence [Film] Eclipse Films. Available at: IFI Archive Player https://ifiarchiveplayer.ie/belleek-an-enduring-heritage/ [Accessed 2/6/2022]
Dunlevy, Mairead, Ceramics in Ireland, (National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, 1988)
Degenhardt, Richard K, Belleek: The Complete Collector’s Guide and Illustrated Reference (New York: Portfolio Press, 1978)
Hadden, Tom. “How Fair?” Fortnight, no. 329, 1994, pp. 11–11. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25554602. [Accessed 19/5/2022]
Langham, Marion, Belleek Irish porcelain: An Illustrated Guide to Over Two Thousand Pieces (London: Quiller Press, 1993)
McCrum, Sean. “The Belleek Industry.” Irish Arts Review (1984-1987), vol. 4, no. 1, 1987, pp. 17–21. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20491946. [Access 10/5/2022]
Molloy, Aisling. “Frederick Vodrey’s Ceramic Designs for the 1880s Dublin Exhibitions.” History Ireland, vol. 13, no. 2, 2005, pp. 28–32. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27725238. [Accessed 19 May 2022]
Reynolds, Mairead, Early Belleek Wares. (Dublin: The National Museum of Ireland, 1978)
Reynolds, Mairead. “Eugene Sheerin.” Clogher Record, vol. 10, no. 3, 1981, pp. 349–56. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/27695832. [Accessed 19 May 2022]
Westropp, M. S. Dudley, and Henry Delamain. “Notes on the Pottery Manufacture in Ireland.” Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, vol. 32, 1914, pp. 1–27, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25504162. [Accessed 17/5/2022]
‘Progress of Irish Enterprise’ 1865, Freemans Journal, February 22, P.4 column 4