The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-05-19
"BEELEY" AND ELS ROSES
AN INTERESTING FIELD FOR THE
CHINA COLLECTOR.

WI VI AAoH IAA0tAuaN = ~ AhAn
Efforts 70 Make Porcelain "A Romance
OF the POtteFies-The Artists Career.
The fanoiful collector Of china who has
got past the stage OF just collecting and
wants to pursue a subject out of the COM
mon Int requiring patience and knowledge
could not find a more interesting branch
than +Beeley' and his paintings Of roses.
To be sure 1t is not plain sailing. for besides
learning TO recognize his style wherever
you find it you must also learn the pecul-
arities Of the different ~porcelains which he
decorated in his cheokeFed career.
William BllingSley, called also Beeley.
first appears as q youth Of 10. brought by
his widowed mother to Mr.. Duesbury at the
factory at Derby. TO he apprentioed for
five years. This was in 17H. The boy,
under the direction OF Duesbury. showed
taste and skill In painting flowers. particu-
larly roses, 30 that after the expiration OF
the five years apprenticeship an agreement
was made that he should remain twenty
years longer with the Derby works.
1t was q misfortune for Billfngsley that his
uneasy spirit and restless ambition led him
as soon az he could TO move on. For years
he was head painter at Derby, and any order
Of Importance and consequences was given
to him. Thousands Of pieces left his hands.
Apparently the idea OF his importance
upset his balance. for he left the Derby
factory and, backed by a man named Coke,
built, in 1895, q small factory at Pinxton in
Derbyshire.
For some years at odd hours Billingsley
had been trying TO invent a CLASSY por-
celain like the old Chelsea ware, and it is Ger
tain that In some way he became possessed
Of a recipe. 1t was this ware that they
endeavored TO make at Pinxton, but it
was a commercial failure and was aban-
doned.
Six years later Beeley was painting at
Mansfield. Then he drifted to Torksey,
in Lincolnshire, where he still adhered to
flower painting, though in deed made by
him in 1905 he Is described as china mani
facturer.'
He was at Torksey from 1902 to 1908, then
at Worcester painting for Barr. Flight and
Barr, where "Billensley's roses" we're often
entered In the early pattern books. He
remained at Worcester from 1908 to 1911;
he was at Nantgarw from 1911 to 1914; at
Swansea from 1914 to 1917; then at Nant-
garw again from 1917 to 1910; then at Coal
port from 1919 till 1928, when he died.
These dates are given TO show how varied
was his experience and onhow many different
makes OF china one may look for his flowers
and roses.
The most interesting and at the same
time the most pathetic part Of his long
career was his work at Nantgarw. AL
though his reputation as q painter Of flowers
was OF the highest order. he hankered for
other fields. He wished most ardently
to make and perfect a soft paste, and when
ever he could find any one to advance the
money. or he could himself scrape enough
together. he turned to experimenting in
this direction.
Nantgarw was the fourth factory with
which Billingsley became connected, and
here he was able to try again and make
porcelain from q recipe which he had OBJ
tanned while still working at Derby. He
laid aside his brushes and gave himself
over heart and soul to trying to perfect one
OF the most impossible yet most beautiful
OF all European porcelains.
Nothing seems to have discouraged him.
The Losses In the pursuit OF this celebrated
paste were Incredible; nine-tsnths Of the
ware when taken from the oven shivered
and cracked, and over and over again
B~illingsley tried to persuade capitalists
that just the mex time the result would
justify his expectations.
Failing with individuals; he attempted
TO get Government aid. 90 sure was he OF
the ultimate result Of his experiments, but
in this he failed and he left Nantgarw for
Swansea. where he had promises that he
should be allowed TO carry on his expert
ments. But after three years Mr.. Dillwyn
and Billingsley separated and Billingsley
to Santgarw, where he worked till
when the end came. \
Broken with poverty and misfortune, he
took up with an offer made by Mr.. Rose Of |
the Coalport works. who bought up all the
stock and recipes Of both Nantgarw and
Swansea. and for the next nine years Bill
vent on with his flower painting.
The style adopted by him was free and
by previous traditions. His
colors were good, his perception OF the
decorative value Of flowers keen and he not
only projected the flowers on the plain white
OF the porcelain background. but also used
black and gold grounds.
His favorite flower was a rose. which he
with great skill, and almost invai-
ably in every bunch he put at least one Of
flowers. with Its back toward the
spectator, 10 that the calyx would show.
Another flower which he often used was a
stock, either in white or yellow, and always
shaded with gray, and in the Derby pattern
booksone Of his pieces is set down as Basket
Of flowers upon Pedistall before olive
BY Billensley.' He never painted
figures, but filled in the flowers which were
needed to perfect the patterns.
The Nantgarw porcelain at its best IL
practically perfect. with a beautiful glaze
and a body Of great beauty. No matter how
thick It is. II never becomes entirely opaque.
The shadows are soft grays owing 10 this
fact. and the tint Of the china itself lie neither
cream nor white, but a shade between.
Owing to the difficulty Of making the ware,
the pieces were thick. Some Of them had
moulded in the paste and we're
besides. The lack Of Elasticity In
the body gives specks or cracks in the
pieces when held against the light. and the
feet OF objects and even plates themselves
are thick and somewhat clumsy. But the
Of the paste, the exquisite decora-
and their rarity make them sell for
prices when pieces come on the
market.
Consider now the broad character OF a
collection composed Of pieces painted by