RECENT ADVANCES IN THE POTTERY INDUSTRY. 291 



probably the most noteworthy are a bust of Cleopatra and a vase 

 with modeled figures of base-ball players. 



The first attempts in the manufacture of " Belleek " egg-shell 

 china were made by Mr. Brewer in 1882, in conjunction with Mr. 

 William Bromley, Jr., but these early trials were not entirely 

 satisfactory. Encouraged by partial success, however, Mr. Brewer 

 induced Bromley to send for his father, William Bromley, and his 

 brother, John Bromley, who, with two or three other hands, came 

 over in the following year from the Belleek factory in Ireland. 

 Mr. William H. Goss, of Stoke-on-Trent, invented this body some 

 thirty years ago, at which time the elder Bromley was acting as 

 his manager. Messrs. David McBirney and Robert Williams Arm- 

 strong were then attempting to make first-class ceramic goods at 

 their recently established manufactory in the village of Belleek, 

 county of Fermanagh, Ireland. Mr. Armstrong induced Bromley 

 to take a number of Mr. Goss's best workmen to Ireland and 

 introduce the egg-shell porcelain there. The ware produced at 

 that factory has since become world-famous, being characterized 

 by extreme lightness of body and a beau- 

 tiful, lustrous glaze. 



The ware now manufactured by the 

 Ott and Brewer Company is made en- 

 tirely from American materials, and is a 

 vast improvement over the body and 

 glaze first introduced by the Bromleys 

 eight years ago. In the rich iridescence 

 of the nacreous glaze it is fully equal to 

 the original Belleek ; in delicacy of col- 

 oring and lightness of weight it is even 

 superior. A dozen cups and saucers, 

 making twenty-four distinct pieces of 

 the ordinary size, almost as thin as pa- 

 per, weigh just one pound avoirdupois, 

 or an average of only two thirds of an 

 ounce each. A large variety of forms 

 of this porcelain are produced, in both 

 ornamental and useful designs. The 

 larger vases are usually simple in out- 

 line and of the same comparative light- 

 ness as those of smaller size. They 

 often possess pierced necks, feet, and handles, and are elegant- 

 ly decorated in enamels, gold relief, and chasing. 



A triumph of the potter's skill is a Belleek ostrich-egg bonbon- 

 box, in two segments, which is exquisitely perforated or honey- 

 combed over its entire surface. We can not here reproduce more 

 than one or two examples of these beautiful fabrics. One is a 



Fig. 19. — Belleek Vase. 

 Ott and Brewer Company. 



