Parian Chatter                  
Volume 12, Number 2                            Sunshine Chapter, Belleek Collector's International Society                            June, 2011

Serving 35 members in the United States, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom
Charlie Belmont passed away on April 9, 2011, following a short stay in hospice at the conclusion of a long and productive life. Charlie was a gentleman of the old school: he was kind, courteous, and thoughtful in a manner not always seen today. He was married to Anne for 65 years, and they had the good fortune of a long, happy life together. Charlie was a charter member of the Belleek Collectors International Society and the Sunshine Chapter of Florida, although his interest in Belleek extended back to 1950 when Anne’s mother gave them a Ribbon sugar and creamer as a present. Like most collectors, his interest in Belleek was piqued by the beauty of the pieces, and he began pursuing this interest in the following years. He dated his serious collecting to the mid 1950’s. Because his company required that he travel to England and the Continent several times a year during the 1960s, he was able to acquire many rare articles of parian to build a serious collection of first and second period pieces. He also purchased pieces from the Horace Manning Mann Collection. When the BCIS was founded in 1979-80, Charlie became member # 6016 in September 1980. When the call went out for the organizational meeting of a new chapter in Florida in August 1999, Charlie was one of the first to respond. He and Anne attended meetings faithfully as long as their health permitted, and he and Anne always made constructive and helpful comments and suggestions at the meetings. He also made presentations at the meetings. Charlie had a special interest in the early history of the pottery and its relationships with English pottery companies at Stoke-on-Trent. He wrote of their craftsmen who migrated initially from England to Belleek and, following the deaths of David McBirney, Robert Armstrong, and later J. C. Bloomfield in Ireland, to the United States, where they were instrumental in helping create the American Belleek wares. Charlie contributed a number of articles to Parian Chatter, the newsletter of the Sunshine Chapter, and he and Anne were awarded the Distinguished Service plate of the Chapter in recognition of their contributions. Although Charlie felt constrained to resign when he could no longer travel to the meetings, it was unanimously agreed to keep him and Anne in honorary status and send them copies of the newsletter. Their friends in the Chapter also made it a point to stay in touch with the couple. According to Anne, Charlie remained active in community affairs, and was scheduled to receive the Volunteer of the Year Award from their community association when he passed away. We extend to Anne our heartfelt sympathy on her loss and have the happy memories of a good friend to cherish. John Miller

At the June meeting it was agreed to send a $50.00 donation to the Treasurer Coast Hospice in memory of Charlie.
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On Monday May 11th, 2011 The Belleek Pottery put on a reenactment of the visit by the Fifth Earl of Spencer to the pottery and his signing of the original guest book. The guest book recently appeared in an auction in Tipperary, ROI and was purchased by two members of the English chapter of the BCIS and now is on loan to the pottery. Here are some photos of the pageantry that happened that day.

Mr. McBirney, Pottery building owner with John C. Bloomfield esq. Instructs the Ladies in Waiting on how to act when the Earl arrives.

The carriage arrives.

The Earl emerges with his Lady

and moves to the pottery's main entrance.
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The formalities of greeting everyone occurs anbd the Earl is lead to the guest book for signing.

The Earl signs the book under the watchful eye of Mr. McBirney.

As does his "Man" for the rest of the entourage. 		The guest book. For a closer look you will just have to visit the pottery. You will also find more about the guest book on the Belleek website along with lots of new pieces of Belleek.
www.belleek.ie

Chapter guests in attendance for the guest book's return to the pottery were from the UK, NI and US. Left to right, Helen Rankin, (Belleek Honoree 2007-2008), Fergus Cleary, Patricia McCauley, Robert Pearce, Victoria Pearce, Beverly Marvell, Chris Marvell and Trevor Rankin.


Treasurer's report. As a result of our January auction we were able to donate a total of $700.00 to the Richard K. Degenhardt Scholarship Fund this year. Thank you all so much. After the donation, we had $804.53 in the treasury. I spent $35.60 on stamps for newsletters and meeting notices leaving a balance of $768.93.
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In commemoration of the State visit by Queen Elizabeth II to the Republic of Ireland this year, the Belleek Pottery has created a special hand-made flowered porcelain basket.

The basket which features handcrafted and painted English roses, Irish shamrocks, forget-me-nots and four-leaf clovers, has been designed by Belleek designer Claire Rowe and created by a team of highly skilled craftsmen at the Co Fermanagh Pottery. It is 100 years since a reigning British Monarch last visited the Republic of Ireland and a limited edition of 100 of the Queen Elizabeth Baskets is being produced.

Commenting on her inspiration for the design of the special royal basket, Claire Rowe, Belleek Pottery said: "The visit of Queen Elizabeth II is of major significance to everyone on the island of Ireland and throughout the UK and we wanted to mark the occasion with the creation of a product that was truly fit for a queen. At Belleek we are known the world over for our intricate basket-weave flowered ware and so a floral inspired basket was a natural choice. English roses and Irish shamrock were chosen to reflect the traditions of both nations with forget-me-nots and four-leaf shamrocks included for long lasting memories and good fortune. The basket also features a special back stamp to identify the basket for future generations of collectors." 		Each of the hand-made baskets features approximately 39 individually crafted porcelain flowers. It takes ten days to produce just one basket. The 100 Queen Elizabeth Baskets are on sale at selected leading gift ware retailers across Ireland and at www.belleek.ie. at a price of $790.00 USD each. We hope everyone has a safe and fun summer. See you all at the Chicago Convention in September. Gee, that's the weekend of the NASCAR cup race in Chicago. Busy airport.




































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