Vintage View: Belleek International Centrepiece

Kya deLongchamps looks at the incredible history of Belleek, the jewel in Ireland’s pottery crown.

THE International Centrepiece, winner of the 1900 Paris Exhibition Belleek porcelain, is beyond my powers to own. I’m a clumsy oaf, with a child’s impulsive need to poke things. The moment I behold the unbearable lightness of Parian, I’m on an inevitable journey towards throwing it to a slab floor.

I did notice on a recent safari to IKEA, that the glazed cabinet is very much back in form. Perhaps there’s a chance I could archive a few little beauties the colour of clotted cream, securely behind glass. Classic, unmistakable with that translucent loveliness, Belleek pieces have been made since the 1860s, collected hotly since the 1920s, and are still produced today. If you’re looking for something in cabinet ware or a lovely vintage thing to wow anyone of Irish ancestry this Christmas, you simply couldn’t do better.