This piece of porcelain, made in Ulster (Ireland) about 1860, is unusual
in having the part that holds the candle in the form of a crinoid crown.
The crown is that of Eucalyptocrinites decorus Phillips in
Sedgwick, 1839. The cup plates and arms are clearly visible. The type of
the species was from the Wenlock Limestone at Dudley, England and was described
and illustrated by Phillips in Sedgwick's Silurian System. The fossil
was described and illustrated again in 1859.
The wife of one of the founders of the Belleek porcelain
factory, Mrs. Armstrong, was a respected naturalist who influenced the
use of accurate imates of plants and animals in the design of various porcelain
patterns.