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Belleek Chinese Tea Urn (Degenhardt reference number D482), first period (1863-1890). A claw-footed kettle stand modeled as a dragon supporting between its wings a removable double-spouted kettle with knotted silk handle. Fourteen inches tall when both pieces are paired, the Chinese Tea Urn would have been a high ticket item even when new, and surviving examples (which are quite rare) seem to have been painted in numerous colorways, probably as a result of special orders from wealthy customers of the Belleek pottery. At the auction of the late Horace Manning Mann's monumental collection of Belleek in 1988 a pair of Chinese Tea Urns were auctioned off. Lot 482 ("pearl finish; silk handle missing and some chips and restoration") sold for USD $2,750. Lot 400 ("gilt finish...includes original silk handles and instructions in lid") sold for USD $16,000, and is pictured above at left. In 1996 another example reportedly sold at auction for USD $15,500, while yet another example reportedly sold at auction in 1997 for USD $28,000. Also in the Horace Manning Mann auction was Lot 462 consisting of the kettle without the stand as follows: "painted and gilt finish; includes original silk handle; 11 in. height; unique with 1st mark." This item sold for USD $3,000 and seems to have been a (possibly) unique larger version of the kettle since it's noted as being 11 inches in height while the kettle and stand paired are noted as being 14 inches tall. For comparison, a Chinese Tea Ware tea set appears below. This set was reissued by Belleek in stages between 1990 and 1992 as an offering to the members of the Belleek Collectors' International Society. According to The Belleek Collector, Volume 8, Number 3 from 1997: "At our convention in the UK, George Moore, pottery owner, declared that before the next convention, the Belleek Pottery will introduce a limited production of the Chinese tea tray. This will compliment a [1990 through] 1992 limited edition Collectors' Society offering of the Chinese tea service." As of this writing, however, in July of 2002, over five years later, further Belleek conventions have come and gone, but to date Belleek has failed to produce the complimentary tray for whatever reason.
Curiously, examples of the unfooted version of the Chinese Tea Ware set exist from the first period, but the set appears footed in the 1904 catalog, a full 14 years after the dawn of the second period era. The BCIS version from 1990 was also unfooted and was offered only in a simple and understated pearl finish glaze with gilded detailing. Taken as a whole, the Chinese range and the Chinese Tea Urn in particular, are testament to what Belleek of old could do at its best, especially when looking for inspiration beyond the obvious of County Fermanagh and the tiny Irish isle.
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