by Kate Moriarty, Documentation Officer (Art and Industry), National Museum of Ireland

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Most of us see Belleek porcelain as a luxury item found in the big department stores alongside Waterford Crystal and Denby tea sets, something that you might buy as a souvenir or a wedding present. 

However, Belleek has a long history and started as a philanthropic enterprise, a business set up by John Caldwell Bloomfield who wished to improve the lives of his tenants and to provide employment to those tenants in the aftermath of the Famine. Bloomfield was an amateur mineralogist and geologist and realised that the mud on his newly inherited estate contained feldspar, an essential ingredient in the production of the specific type of porcelain called Parian ware.  In order to finance the new business, he approached well-known architect Robert William Armstrong, and David McBirney, who was a prominent Dublin businessman (an interesting historical figure in his own right).  Caldwell Bloomfield brought in potters from Stoke-on-Trent, an area renowned for porcelain, to work and to teach locals how to make the pottery.  The foundation stone for the new factory was laid in 1858.  

The factory produced high quality domestic ware as well as more famous Parian ware.  From very early on they started to export to the US, Canada and Australia.  This export market proved very lucrative.   

In the National Museum of Ireland we have several examples of some of the finest pieces of Belleek.  My personal favourite is a figure entitled “Hibernia Awakening from her Slumber” This piece was created in 1872 and is a beautiful example of Belleek’s Parian ware.  You can see this and a number of other fine examples of Belleek in the National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History in Collins Barracks.