Lenox Belleek Bowl

Q: My mother bought this bowl at an estate sale on Long Island in the late 1960s. She bought it to add to the Belleek collection my grandmother started for me when I was adopted from Ireland. The mark on the bottom includes the word "Belleek." Can you tell me anything about this piece

A: Your bowl is not a piece of Irish Belleek china, which was first made in Ireland in 1857. Instead your bowl was made by Lenox, Inc., of Trenton, N.J. Lenox started out in 1889 as the Ceramic Art Co., founded by Walter Scott Lenox and Jonathan Coxon. Walter Lenox bought out Coxon's interest in 1896, and the company was renamed Lenox, Inc., in 1906. The mark on your bowl, with a painter's palette, a cursive "L," and the word "Belleek," was used by Lenox from 1906 to 1924. Lenox's output at the time included "blanks," pieces of undecorated china bought by hobbyists, mostly housewives, who painted their own designs on the dishes. The letters "LFS" on your bowl are most likely the initials of the person who painted the design.

A few other interesting facts: Lenox makes porcelain similar to Irish Belleek and, like a few other American companies, it once used the word "Belleek" in its marks. The Irish company sued, and in 1929 the American courts held that manufacturers here could no longer use the trademarked uppercase word "Belleek" in their marks or marketing. Lenox, meanwhile, is still in business, but after a series of mergers it became part of Clarion Capital Partners in 2009.