Shamrocks Everywhere! Celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day With Belleek

This week, everyone will be Irish (even if they aren’t) as Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated with parades and lots and lots and lots of shamrocks. Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on March 17, thought to be the day the patron saint of Ireland […]

Aynsley Eggcup

Q: Can you tell me the age of an Aynsley eggcup in the shamrock pattern? A: John Aynsley established a pottery in Longton, Staffordshire, England, in 1775. He made printed earthenware. His son joined the business and the name became John Aynsley & Sons (Ltd.) in 1864. The factory began making bone china. “England” was […]

Luck of the Irish To You! Shamrock Collectibles 

Break out the green! Happy St. Patrick’s Day! There were celebrations in Ireland for centuries, but it was not until 1762 that America held a celebration and parade in New York City. By the 1840s, the parades had become an annual event to remember the saint. Gradually, Irish immigrants realized that the parade was a […]

Willets Manufacturing Company (1879–C.1912)

Three brothers, Joseph, Daniel, and Edmund R. Willets, founded the Willets Manufacturing Company in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1879. The company made belleek, often hand painted, in the late 1880s and 1890s in shapes similar to those used by the Irish Belleek factory. Willets also made white graniteware, majolica, semiporcelain, and porcelain toilet sets, dishes, […]

Belleek Pottery

Q: I bought a Belleek creamer and sugar bowl decorated with yellow ribbon and bow back in the 1960s. The marks has a circle ”R” over a harp and the words ”Belleek, Ireland” and ”Deanta in Eirinn, Reg. No. 0857.” The sugar bowl has a green mark and the creamer a black mark. Why are the […]