Working Papers on Design

The Belleek pottery was established in County Fermanagh in 1857. The pottery designed and produced utilitarian stoneware and earthenware but is best known for its Parian porcelain production. The Irish Times describes the pottery: One wonders whether in any other modern works the same quietness and peace could be found...the skilled workers seem to be too deeply engrossed in their delicate hand-work to indulge very much in conversation... Each of the rooms is as well lighted as an artist‟s study, and most of the windows look upon the river, whose friendly voice can be heard all the time in that quiet pottery. (11 July 1930) The writer de-contextualises and romanticises Belleek, thus ignoring much of what makes its design and brand fascinating. Other written sources, such as collector‟s manuals, often trivialise Belleek‟s early design and production further fuelling the reader‟s assumptions and nostalgia for the pottery. Such romantic approaches to Belleek have consistently mystified and obscured the context of the pottery‟s design and its position within the ceramics industry. This paper utilises a range of archival sources to examine a previously unexplored aspect of the pottery‟s production history. Belleek had an established relationship with a single organised body of consumers, the Freemason Brotherhood. This network was conducted through Robert William Armstrong, Belleek‟s manager and art director (1857-1884) who joined the Freemasons in 1848. Belleek designed and produced specifically commissioned tableware for a number of Freemason lodges in Ireland and England from 1878. This ware never appeared in trade catalogues but several pieces survive in the collection at The Grand Lodge of Ireland. With the absence of written and material sources in the pottery‟s own archive, the archival holdings of The Grand Lodge of Ireland including the Registry of Freemason Members and the recorded minutes from various lodges have been vital to my research. Robert William Armstrong‟s volumes of personal memoranda including the designer‟s personal notes and photograph album, (copies of which are contained within the Arts and Industry Archive in The National Museum of Ireland) were also key sources. Specific commissions from consumers like the Masons provide examples of how Belleek designed, produced and conducted its business in the years following its establishment. By examining the personal writings of the designer and engaging in a thorough analysis of the objects themselves, I will offer new insights into this important aspect of Belleek‟s mislaid history. Ciara Murray, ‘Brother Armstrong and the Freemasons’, p. 2 Introduction In his 1993 publication, The Belleek Pottery: a Complete Collector’s Guide and Illustrated Reference, Richard K. Degenhardt, prefaces his account with the following autobiographical reflection: I have a lifelong love affair with Ireland, the Irish, and things Irish.... Among the things Irish I most appreciate is the exquisite work of The Belleek Pottery. Such words as Leprechaun and magic come to mind when viewing the results of Belleek craftsmanship. The creamy texture, the gossamer appearance, and the translucent quality of the ware conspire to suggest mirage rather than fact. (Degenhardt 1993, xi) Here we see a prime example of the fabricated and mythical image of the Belleek Pottery and its production. Degenhardt de-contextualises and romanticises Belleek, ignoring much of what makes its design and brand fascinating. Accounts such as this have led to various assumptions about Belleek design. Degenhardt‟s account of the pottery and its production is limited by his reliance on such mythic associations. His writing is characteristic of many romantically inclined texts published in collector and connoisseur guides on Belleek to date. Mairead Dunlevy discusses the mythology of Belleek ware in her 1984 article „Early Belleek Designs‟, citing a passage from the 1926 Donn Byrne novel Hangman’s House, which refers to „the ancient Belleek China‟ (1984, 24). The pottery, which was established 65 years prior to the publication of the novel hardly deserves its „ancient‟ status, yet it imbues the pottery with a mysterious and relic-like quality. Dunlevy states that „local pride gave birth to many colourful exaggerations, if not myths, about the early workings of the pottery‟ (1984, 24). These myths often tie in with issues of authenticity. Origin and provenance were of prime importance to the Belleek brand, continually assuring its products authenticity in the market. Belleek has often been radically de-contextualised, perpetuating the myth that the pottery was established and developed in virtual isolation, without any outside influence, and that it is this imagined autonomy which made Belleek‟s output „authentic‟. Sean Mc Crum‟s 1989 article „The Belleek Industry‟ pioneered the idea of the Belleek „brand‟. He offered an innovative approach by referring to the tactical movements of the pottery and examining the history of the business during its early period of production (1989, 17-21). „Like Paul Henry‟s landscapes of the west of Ireland, Belleek pottery has become part of „Irishry‟, a phenomenon which has created a very limited view of what the pottery actually achieved. The factory did not spring into existence magically formed... It developed as a commercial concern‟. (Mc Crum 1989, 17). Adrian Forty writes of the relevance of business to studies of design history: Ciara Murray, ‘Brother Armstrong and the Freemasons’, p. 3 It is commonly assumed that design would somehow be soiled if it were associated too closely with commerce, a misconceived attempt at intellectual hygiene that has done no good at all. It has obscured the fact that design came into being at a particular stage in the history of capitalism and played a vital part in the creation of industrial wealth. Limiting it to purely artistic activity has made it seem trivial and relegated it to the status of little more than a cultural appendix. (Forty 1986, 6) This essay will analyse a previously unexplored aspect of Belleek‟s business history by examining a relationship between the pottery and an organised body of consumers, the Freemasons, which commissioned ware from Belleek. Belleek‟s consumers have not been previously investigated in any detailed study and few documentary sources regarding sales or orders have survived. By researching the Freemason‟s commissions a discernible example of how the pottery designed and produced its output and conducted its business can be established. For this research the records held at the Grand Lodge of Ireland and Freemason Museum, Molesworth Street, Dublin and the Library and Museum of Freemasonry, London, were imperative. The minutes of meetings, lodge registry, and some surviving examples of Belleek‟s Masonic ware all contribute to a coherent image of the consumer base, providing new insights into the pottery‟s mislaid history. These sources facilitate a detailed examination of an important aspect of Belleek‟s industrial endeavours, all too often glossed over or even ignored in previous studies. In this essay I hope to dispel some of the myths that have obscured the context of the pottery‟s design at this period.