A fascinating exhibition opens in Limerick's Hunt Museum next week offering collectors here a rare chance to view fine examples of Irish delftware. Already seen in London where it was held by early pottery specialist Jonathan Horne, the show draws on private collections both at home and abroad as well as the holdings of such public institutions as the Ulster Museum in Belfast, Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum and the Hunt Museum.
It is almost 30 years since a comparable exhibition was arranged in this country and such an opportunity may not therefore arise again for some time. In comparison with that in England, Ireland's 18th century delftware industry was small and, it appears, the primary concern of those involved was survival in the face of more successful competitors from across the Irish Sea.
However, despite any disadvantages, the local producers did manage to create their own distinctively decorated wares beginning in 1697 when a London potter called Matthew Garner moved to Belfast in order to avoid bankruptcy. Thanks to the discovery of an exceptionally fine delftware clay at Carrickfergus, the "Belfast Potthouse" flourished as Ireland's only maker of delftware for the first quarter of the 18th century.
But the solitary status of this business, as well as its relative isolation, eventually proved to be disadvantageous for survival, so at some time between 1733 and 1735 a Belfast merchant, John Chambers, moved to Dublin where he established the capital's first such pottery in Dublin: the "World's End" pottery on the North Strand. Other, smaller potteries were set up in Limerick and Rostrevor and possibly Youghal and Waterford as well. The World's End Pottery is best-known for the period when it was run by Henry Delamain who owned the business for five years before his early death in January 1757.
Delamain's name is still synonymous with Irish delftware, thanks not only to his considerable investment in the company but also the charming designs he created. Sometimes there were naive replicas of Chinese and English porcelain, but the best work is that carrying meticulously painted images of romantic landscapes quite unlike delftware produced anywhere else at the time on these islands.
The exhibition contains more than a dozen examples of this work. Coinciding with the organisation of the event, Jonathan Horne has published Irish Delftware: An Illustrated History written by Belfast-based expert Peter Francis (£55 sterling).
The exhibition of Irish delftware runs at the Hunt Museum, The Custom House, Rutland Street, Limerick from next Friday until February 18th. For further information, telephone 061-312833.
