Heirloom... Or Not?

I have an old bowl. As I remember, Mom gave it to me once upon a time, maybe in the 1970s, and I think she said it came from ancestors from Ireland. She doesn't remember this at all. One Thanksgiving I used it to serve up mashed potatoes and someone loaded it in the dishwasher. Big mistake: the gold trim took a major hit from that experience. But I love it just the same!

I don't know a thing about it and don't know how to look. I'm no good at antiques and such. So if anyone of you clever people can tip me off about where to look next, I'd really appreciate it!

Here are photos from the top and bottom. Does that look like "BMF, 1910" and two shamrocks with "J & C" on the bottom? That's pretty specific but where do I look to find out about that?

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/03/heirloom-or-not.html