This is a Belleek teacup and saucer made in the year 1878. It has the famous Echinus shape brought out in 1867; this is one of the rare but very desired designs of Belleek.
If you ever thought Belleek fine china looks, sounds and feels unique, you are right. There is a back story to this extraordinarily fine Irish eggshell porcelain, which has an unusually high amount of "frit" and therefore is thinner and finer than any other china.
Pottery in Belleek (in the now Northern-Irish area of Fermanagh) had started in 1849 with John Caldwell Bloomfield, who was a wealthy land owner. During the Irish famine he realised that unless he would find a way for his tenants to make a profit off the land, they would starve. Agriculture had become near-impossible due to agricultural diseases. This caused millions to starve and more millions to leave. As an amateur mineralogist, John Caldwell Bloomfield realised that his land had exactly the right mineral deposits to be used as clay for porcelain. He involved several investors and scientists and after many years of research, trial, error, the building of a railway line to import coal from England, and building a factory, the Belleek pottery resulted, employing the local people and soon producing the finest china made with clay from the Belleek area.
What had started as a way to fend off famine among the local tenants had became a story of incredible success by the 1880s as Queen Victoria fell in love with the fine white china and the many homely, slightly bizarre but nature-loving designs; this was different from English tradition, yet it was very much to the taste of the British who had developed a real love for home-made fine china since it was introduced in the late 18th Century. Belleek not only brought out many tea services, but started a new tradition of intricately woven porcelain baskets. Soon the English nobility started to place big orders and the pottery is still flourishing today and selling its wares the world over, while in England most potteries have long disappeared.
The Echinus series is one of the most famous series Belleek brought out. Queen Victoria loved it and ordered a little breakfast set, which she used every morning the rest of her life. Echinus is the name of a sea urchin, and you can see why: the surface of the items is moulded like a sea urchin. But the references to sea life don't stop there: the teacup handle is shaped like a sea cucumber. The artwork of the moulding is exquisite. The set is off-white, or you could call it very light cream, with a slight lustre finish and the teacup has a pink handle.
The items carry the first mark that was used between 1863 and 1891 and a date code for the year 1878.
CONDITION REPORT The set is in perfect antique condition without any damage, crazing or wear. There is some soot baked into the glaze on the outside of the teacup, which is not unusual for items of this era and this is reflected in the price.
Antique porcelain is never perfect. Kilns were fired on coal in the 1800s, and this meant that china from that period can have some firing specks from flying particles. British makers were also known for their experimentation, and sometimes this resulted in technically imperfect results. Due to the shrinkage in the kiln, items can have small firing lines or develop crazing over time, which should not be seen as damage but as an imperfection of the maker's recipes, probably unknown at the time of making. Items have often been used for many years and can have normal signs of wear, and gilt can have signs of slight disintegration even if never handled. I will reflect any damage, repairs, obvious stress marks, crazing or heavy wear in the item description but some minor scratches, nicks, stains and gilt disintegration can be normal for vintage items and need to be taken into account.
There is widespread confusion on the internet about the difference between chips and nicks, or hairlines and cracks. I will reflect any damage as truthfully as I can, i.e. a nick is a tiny bit of damage smaller than 1mm and a chip is something you can easily see with the eye; a glazing line is a break in the glazing only; hairline is extremely tight and/or superficial and not picked up by the finger; and a crack is obvious both to the eye and the finger. Etcetera - I try to be as accurate as I can and please feel free to ask questions or request more detailed pictures!
DIMENSIONS The teacup is 8.5cm (3.75") diameter and 5cm (2") high, the saucer is 13.5cm (5.25") diameter.
