Vintage Porcelain Pitcher Princeton University Willets Belleek

Princeton University Willets Belleek Porcelain Pitcher. 9 inches tall in good condition. No cracks or visible imperfections.

The Willets Manufacturing Company of Trenton, New Jersey, began work in 1879 and stopped production in 1912. The company made belleek in the late 1880s and 1890s. This vintage piece is an original and bears a printed maker's mark. It displays very well and adds a touch of elegance to any decor. The multicolor pitcher is made of high-quality porcelain and is a part of the Princeton University product line. The handle is is in the shape of a dragon serpentine (something the company did often) with the face of a gargoyle. The Princeton logo is hand-painted on, and the spout has a satyr mask in relief. Satyr masks have been used in art to represent vitality, merriment, and desire, and to capture the charm of satyrs and nymphs, they evolved from Greek theatre.

Works of Willets Belleek are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Antique Roadshow approaised a piece of their Belleek, and although it's for a different piece, it gives a good background of the company: https://www.pbs.org/video/antiques-roadshow-appraisal-willets-belleek-pitcher-ca-1880/