The United Kingdom Group. For those who do not know us, we are a group based in the United Kingdom for
collectors of Irish Belleek parian and earthenware. The pottery was founded in 1857 and producing wares today from Belleek village.
Most prized and collected are early 'Black Mark' First Period pieces.
Rare Belleek....Very Rare Second Black Mark Hand Painted Bird Vase, one of a pair
Below...reverse of Bird Vase above
Below... Donegal Castle Hand Painted on First Black Mark Tea Trivet
Below.. First Black Mark Ring Handle Hand Painted 'Honeysuckle' Cup and Saucer
Below... Shepherd and Dog Candlestick Holder First Black Mark
Below...Hand Painted Star Dish Second Black Mark
Above...First Period Cruet set
Above... Second Black Mark Victoria Cup and Saucer
Above...Hand Painted Hexagon Pattern Dejeuner Tray Set
Our 2023 Christmas Party meeting was held via Zoom online on Sunday 10 December. Both UK and Overseas members got together to enjoy a seasonal quiz and our theme for the meeting was be Belleek Cups and Saucers
Our Autumn 2023 Meeting was held in November in Greenwich London On Saturday we met for lunch and later for dinner after exploring the area. On Sunday our meeting got underway after a morning treasure hunt followed by lunch and then our afternoon meeting. More information will be found in our newest Newsletter which is due to be posted by the end of the year.
Our Summer 2023 AGM and meeting ... Our AGM was held in sunny Looe Cornwall over the weekend of the 8th and 9th July and began on Friday evening with Dinner at the Sail Loft Restaurant in East Looe, On Saturday members were treated to a Cornish Pasty lunch at Simon and Melanie's home while viewing their collection. On Saturday night we dined at the Sardine Factory in West Looe which has been given the Michelin Bib Gourmand award for the last five years for excellent food for which they excelled that evening. We then returned to the Hannafore Point Hotel for more chat and drinks. Sunday dawned with the sun shining again for our AGM. We had talks on painter Eugene Sheerin, Earthenware Wall Plaques and a slide show featuring 2001 Honoree Don Campbell's collection in Tacoma. During our AGM, present chair, Simon Whitlock stood down having completed his term of office and our new chairperson appointed was Joanna Urbanek to a round of applause.
Our Spring 2023 Meeting..was held in conjunction with the 2023 Gathering at Belleek Pottery. We had a great time touring County Fermanagh visiting collections and renewing and making new friendships plus spending time at the pottery. More to follow in the next UK Group Newsletter
above...Two plates handpainted by Cyril Arnold Third Black Mark
Belleek Conventions from 1993 to 2013 To view images and news from each and every International convention please click on ' Convention Home Page'
in main menu left
2013 The Last International Belleek Convention... The Eleventh International Convention was held in Las Vegas at the
Flamingo Hotel from 10 to 13th October.
Below is a group photo of all attendees. The UK Group
was well represented with members who made the journey to the States.
The 2013 convention
was arranged by members from several chapters. As usual, an exciting schedule of events was enjoyed by
all the attendees.
Please click HERE to visit our special 2013 Convention page. Since 2013 the Collectors Society have organised 'Gatherings'. The last was held at Belleek during April 2023 which was also a joint meeting of UK and Northern Ireland Groups too. The next event is planned to take place in 2025. More news when known.
Newsletter...most recent newsletters can only be viewed through subscribing to the UK Group either as full or if outside the UK as an overseas member. Please click on our Join Us page to find out more and use the paypal link further down this home page.. there is a fee payable annually which helps to cover the printing, posting of newsletter and associated costs with running the group
Rare Belleek Archive ... can be accessed left from menu options. These have been sub-divided into several areas and can be accessed using key headings, Crested, Painted, Tea Ware, Earthenware and Decorated. Below extremely rare full Celtic Tea Set with Tray
Eugene Sheerin Gallery Please view our gallery to see many pictures of pieces devoted to his work. Below recently sold via an e bay auction, our thanks to thebaldeeagle for use of images, cup and saucer set. Cup with view of Glengarriffe Waterfall and saucer a view of Buncrana Waterfalls both with First Black Mark to base plus a View of Ross Castle, Killarney, Second Black Mark which has now been added to our 'Sheerin Gallery'
Belleek Videos.. includes a
link to Jason Fowler's six videos of
his collection and an interesting link to a UTV programme called 'Lesser Spotted Ulster' which visits Belleek plus
a look at a museum in Geelong, Australia with what is billed as the largest collection of Belleek
in the southern Hemisphere..unless of course, you know differently! Due to copyright permissions, some of these may not be viewable outside the UK.
Belleek Videos..'Hands' Belleek Pottery commissioned a special one hour video film in 1987. Although
copies occasionally appear for sale on E Bay or Amazon, they are not found easily. Fortunately, there is a
copy held 'on line' and is an excellent snapshot of how Belleek was produced back in the 80's. It is great
to see so many familiar faces including Jim Flanagan, Albert Elliot, Fergus Cleary, John Doogan, Liam McCauley,
Vincent McCauley and Hugh O'Reilly to name a few. The video was shot before George Moore purchased
the pottery and invested in rebuilding the works. The pottery was still virtually untouched and remained
that way through the 1980's. The film is well worth watching and lasts for an hour. Unfortunately
there are adverts that pop up during the film. Without the adverts, historic films such as 'Hands' would not
be available on the web.
Click here for 1980's Belleek Video 'Hands' this will probably start with an advert which you can skip if needed!
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