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.
The Langham Archives Featured below are a selection of images from a vast archive of pictures and negatives gathered together by UK Group President, the late Marion Lady Langham, author of 'Belleek Irish Porcelain' issued in 1993. We are fortunate that Marion was able to access so many varied collections here in the UK and also the United States, Canada and elsewhere across the world. The whole archive collection has been donated to the UK Group and the hard work of digitising the images of these more unusual pieces has started.
Rare Belleek....Above Very Rare Hand Painted Earthenware Plaque
Rare Belleek....Above Very Rare First Black Mark Earthenware Wall Plaque 'Firm and Faithful'
Above... Jewelled Terra Cotta Vase with stopper and underplate First Black Mark
Above .. Earthenware Wall Plaque Artist Unknown First Black Mark
Above...Chinese Tea Pot First Black Mark
Above... Extremely Rare First Second Mark Fotted Celtic Tea Pot Second Black Mark
Above... a trio of hand painted Dessert plates all Second Black Mark
Above... Ribbon Basket Weave hand painted plate second black mark
Above.. Rare Cactus Spill Vase
Our Spring 2024 Meeting was held in Staffordshire where the group visited the 23rd March Continuity Fairs Stafford Antiques Fair and met afterwards for a short meeting and chat at the Saracen's Head, Weston near Stafford
Our Summer AGM meeting was held on Saturday 20th July in Derbyshire. We had a great day with our hosts Chris and Bev Marvell. The weather was fine so we were able to enjoy fresh home made pizzas sitting outside after the AGM. Later on many of our group enjoyed a Whisky tasting session.
Our Autumn meeting was held in the Midlands at the Birmingham NEC where the group visited the Classic Antiques Fair on November 29th and met afterwards for a short meeting and late lunch at Zizzi's Italian
Our 2024 Christmas Party meeting was held via Zoom on Sunday 8th December. Members from the UK and USA joined together for a quiz and shared Belleek 'Good Finds' on screen
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.
Eugene Sheerin Gallery Please view our gallery to see many pictures of pieces devoted to his work. Above from Doctor Obadiah Ternan, Enniskillen's Scenes of Ireland service, Plaskin Head, Giants Causeway Second Black Mark . Other peices from this set are on view at the Collins Barracks Museum in Dublin. Below 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,
Above... Scene of Upper Lake Killarney painted by Eugene Sheerinn. Part of a larger dessert service. Second Black mark to rear of plate
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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