NOTES:

• The McKinley Act of 1891 required that the country of origin be marked on all imported goods. The capital R (or ®) was added in 1955 as proof of USA registration. Apparently this satisfied international laws for the period 1955-1979, and the word "Ireland" was dropped from the designation strips, only to be reintroduced again in 1980.
• In some examples of Belleek baskets the parian pad underneath features a simple R to denote registered trademark, while other examples feature a proper ® symbol.
• According to The Belleek Collector, Volume 8, Number 2 from 1986, in 1986 Belleek endeavored to add a number system to their baskets' identification strips that would allow their baskets to be dated, tracked, the particular artist identified, etc. This was soon abandoned, probably proving more trouble than it was worth to maintain the registry and follow up on queries. Click here for more information about the short-lived numbering system.
• Note that I have yet to find a reference to dating Belleek baskets anywhere that is completely correct, and just when I think I've got it I find another example that doesn't conform to the mix. The information presented here is culled from all the major references and corrected as needed. This will be an ongoing process as this page endeavors to be absolutely reliable at all times.

A sample of the parian identification strips to be found on the undersides of baskets
up to 1989. From the text only we can discern that this basket dates between
1891 and 1954, but in conjunction with the four strand base we know that
it dates from 1921-1954. These strips often split or crack during
firing, and this should not accurately be considered damage.

The modern ink-stamped pad, square with
rounded corners and marked by the
artist (this pad is from 2001).