Belle Vue transfer printed tea cup
Even the inside of this tea cup is printed with flowers, fruit and moths. People drinking from the cup would not have been able to see the design inside until they finished their tea. Perhaps the decoration was intended for show, so the cup could be ornamental when it wasnât in use. This tea cupâs bulbous shape is typical of Hullâs Belle Vue pottery. The pottery made cups of many different shapes and sizes, but this shape was a favourite. The Belle Vue Pottery was run by a merchant called William Bell. It manufactured ceramics on the Humber bank from 1826-1841. The pottery site was near to where Kingston Retail Park is today. A group of archaeologists excavated the Belle Vue pottery site in 1970. The archaeologists found hundreds of pieces, including this teacup. The teacup was broken into several pieces and had to be pieced back together. Most of what we know about Belle Vue pottery comes from this excavation. Most Belle Vue pots, including this one, were made from good quality white earthenware. The majority were decorated with transfer printed patterns. These were quick and cheap to produce as the same engraved copper plate could be used to print hundreds of pots. Despite its location near the centre of Hull, most Belle Vue products were destined for foreign markets. Because of its location on the Humber bank, the pottery had its own wharf. Ships tied up there to unload raw materials, and to take aboard finished products for export. In the first seven months of the potteryâs existence alone William Bell exported 78 000 potterâs dozens of ceramics. A potterâs dozen was the number of pots that the potterâs carrying boards would hold at once. Bell operated a warehousing business in Hamburg with his brother Edward, so most of his products were exported there. Other destinations included Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Spain.
