Why did Clarice Cliff become so famous? Why did Clarice Cliff become so famous? Leonard Griffin, author of five books on Clarice, and founder of the Clarice Cliff Collectors Club, talks about the woman behind the art. When I bought my first piece of Clarice Cliff pottery in 1979 many antique dealers had not even heard of her. Some referred to her ï¿½Clarenceï¿½ Cliff! The startling contrast between designs such as Crocus and Lugano; or shapes such as her Yo Yo vase and the very traditional My Garden ware, was puzzling. How could ONE person have designed such a diversity of designs? At the time there had been just one book about her, published in 1976 and was out of print. However, I finally managed to get a copy of the Lï¿½Odeon Clarice Cliff book, and devoured its contents eagerly. The more I learned about her pottery and life the more I become thoroughly engrossed. This was a very exciting time as many of the pieces I found were not in the book. What were to become her most famous creations, the classic Age of Jazz figures, were shown only in archive black and white photographs.

It was clear there was much to discover. Such is the ï¿½spellï¿½ cast by Clariceï¿½s art that today posters, books and her personal possessions are all sought by enthusiasts. Yet the early eighties saw a quiet build in interest, so fortunately I managed to assemble a collection in the days when pieces cost tens of pounds, rather than thousands. To answer the many mysteries about Clarice and her pottery, I started the Clarice Cliff Collectors Club back in 1982. Seeing the vast diversity of shapes and designs in other people's collections made me realise it might take years to catalogue them all, and I am still trying to complete this task 18 years later. I began to research Clariceï¿½s work in Stoke on Trent, where between 1982 and 1988 I traced over 30 of Clariceï¿½s original paintresses. They had been just 14 years old when they joined her between 1927 and 1936, so were robust, lively women, surprised at the interest in their work.

On my trips to Stoke I also discovered both the old decorating shop at Newport Pottery and the original tip where the breakages, ï¿½shardsï¿½ were dumped! I still cherish a box with hundreds of pieces of ï¿½broken Bizarreï¿½ ~ another collectorï¿½s foible! Soon, I had so much new information that I decided to write a book of my own on Clarice, but no British publisher could be interested. Then, fate played its part; American collectors Louis and Susan Meisel approached me. Our mutual love for Clariceï¿½s work inspired us to produce a new book. We added new shapes, new designs, new names to Clariceï¿½s story. And for the first time, we illustrated the Age of Jazz figures! Bizarre Affair was published in 1988 and is still in print today. It added a hint of the personal story behind the amazing pots, as the title referred to the affair Clarice had with the factory owner Colley Shorter. Bizarre Affair exhibitions were staged at the National Theatre, London, and Warrington Museum, and yet more devotees discovered Clarice.

The poster has already sold for ï¿½20 to ï¿½30, and an original edition of the book now sells for up to ï¿½50. Since 1988 the ceramics world has never been the same: suddenly Clarice was really discovered! But she was certainly not the chosen ï¿½doyenne of British ceramics amongst academics and ï¿½seriousï¿½ writers. Luckily, ceramics collectors chose not to listen to the critics. Christies in South Kensington introduced sales of just Clarice Cliff pottery in 1989. They were amazed to find that hundreds of enthusiasts arrived on viewing and sales days, and ï¿½celebrity collectorsï¿½ were soon spotted. Cliff devotees were rumoured to include Jerry Hall, Dawn French and Whoopi Goldberg. Clariceï¿½s pottery was exported to many countries, including the USA and Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, so collectors and auctions are found around the world. Indeed, the current World record is for a teaset sold by Christieï¿½s in Melbourne in 1999 for ï¿½17,500!

Most recently, the phenomenal prices have appeared on eBay. There are usually over 250 pieces of Clarice Cliff on offer and a humble four inch high Beehive honeypot in Carpet sold for an astounding ï¿½2530 ($4050). I only ever intended to write one other Clarice book, for her Centenary year of 1999. I had my plans mapped-out as early as 1994.. but suddenly, such was the interest in her, that I wrote three books between 1995 and 1998. In schools, thousands of youngsters did art projects based on her designs or shapes, and at the other end of the spectrum, newly retired people were studying her work because they found her bright, primary colours rejuvenating. Clariceï¿½s unique contribution was to bring colour into the lives of everyday people. And she was also the first woman to produce her own shapes en-masse in a Staffordshire ï¿½potbankï¿½ ~ hundreds of them!

She designed over 20 teapot shapes alone, and companies adapted her designs; not only on pottery, but on aprons, tea towels, doormats, trays, calendars, even biscuit tins! This spate of look-alike ware cashedï¿½in on Clariceï¿½s style, much in the same way that ï¿½Mockintoshï¿½ appeared to copy the unique style of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Some collectors may find it hard to accept that thousands of plates with her patterns printed on them have been produced, but it is an affordable way of buying her Art, otherwise she might be another renowned, but distant designer from another era. She really is the peopleï¿½s designer from the Thirties: her work was aimed at a mass market then, and the ï¿½magicï¿½ still works! As prices continue to rise, it is still possible for new devotees to buy actual hand-painted reproductions of her work by Wedgwood. These represent an affordable way to enjoy her amazing shapes and patterns.

Ironically, Wedgwood has employed a team of young decorators to produce these piece, and they are based in Tunstall, Clariceï¿½s home town! Clariceï¿½s Centenary year was 1999, and she was finally acknowledged for her achievements in her home town of Stoke-on-Trent. The Wedgwood Museum held an exhibition Clarice Cliff : The Art of Bizarre for six months. It was visited by 100,000 people including her original painters - the Bizarre ï¿½girlsï¿½- now all in their eighties. They became the focus for the public interest and adulation Clarice never really had. Perhaps one pivotal reason Clarice Cliff has become so famous is because she was just an ordinary person with whom we can all strongly identify. She was modest about her achievements to the last, refusing to go to an exhibition of her work in 1972 just before her death. Her ï¿½girlsï¿½ tell us that she would have been ï¿½stunnedï¿½ at the interest now.

But it was inevitable for someone who, in a few years created a range of over 400 different shapes which could be ordered on any of over 500 major designs. No other Potteries designer ever achieved this unique skill of being both a prolific modeller of shapes and creator of designs: her fame is based on sheer talent. Clariceï¿½s Centenary has gone, but her ï¿½starï¿½ continues to rise. In the first auction after Centenary year her pottery has not only maintained its high prices, but suddenly made many new record prices. Lotus jugs, one of her most available shapes, were sold for ï¿½7000 to ï¿½8000 in standard designs. An Age of Jazz figure, that we did not really know a great deal about in 1982, made a world record price of ï¿½15,500 ! One of my first members had paid ï¿½20 for hers in the seventies. Clarice would have ï¿½chuckledï¿½, for she was an artist who thoroughly enjoyed her work.

She herself said in 1933: "Having a little fun at my work does not make me any less of an artist, and people who appreciate truly beautiful and original creations in pottery are not frightened by a little innocent tomfoolery." The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club is at Credits: Images of Clarice Cliff and Colley Shorter are ï¿½ Leonard Griffinï¿½ and Pavilion Books 1998/1999 Credits: Images of Wedgwood Clarice Cliff reproductions ï¿½ Leonard Griffinï¿½ and Josiah Wedgwoodï¿½ Credits: Clarice Cliff pottery images, and 1988 ï¿½Bizarre Affairï¿½ poster ï¿½ Leonard Griffinï¿½ and Clarice Cliff Collectors Club The Original Clarice Cliff Website - History, Museum, Events, Forum Go to Features > Clarice Cliff is, today, regarded as one of the most influential ceramics artists of the 20th Century and her work is collected, valued and admired the world over.

She was born on January 20th 1899 in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent and started work at the age of 13 in 'The Potteries'. Clarice moved to the AJ Wilkinson's pottery factory in 1916. She was ambitious and her skills were recognised so that eventually she was given her own studio. It was here that she starting creating her own patterns and the famous 'Bizarre' wares were launched in 1927. In 1928 Clarice created a pattern of Crocus flowers made from individual brushstrokes, completely hand-painted in bright colours. Orders came in thick and fast and in 1930 a separate decorating department was set up to meet demand. The vast majority of Clarice's 'Art Deco' output was between 1927 and 1936. These years are commonly known, by collectors, as The 'Bizarre' years. After 'Bizarre' Clarice continued to produce many wares in her own unique style and to suit the current tastes of the nation and the various worldwide export markets.

Join ClariceCliff.com - read about our membership packages here > Clarice Cliff Pottery Clarice Cliff PotteryBy Mark Chervenka Clarice Cliff Pottery As you probably know from articles in antiques publications, pottery by Clarice Cliff has brought record prices. In auctions, teapots have sold for over $3,000; plates, up to $3,300; vases and jugs, $975 to $1,800. Cliff figurines have sold for over $6,000; vases have brought over $10,000. The increasing popularity of Cliff's work-- plus the scarcity and high price of originals-- has created a demand for reproductions and look-alikes and a temptation to sell the new reproductions as old. This article presents a brief history of Cliff's pottery and a list of known reproductions on the market. Clarice Cliff: The potter Clarice Cliff was born in Tunstall, England in 1899 and grew up in the Staffordshire pottery district.

She began work at 13 years of age and by 1916 was a studio painter at Wilkinson Royal Staffordshire Pottery in Burslem, England. In 1920, Wilkinson took over the nearby Newport Pottery which included a large amount of unsold plain white pottery. By 1926-27, Cliff had begun to decorate this unsold white ware with bright hand brushed paint in Art Deco designs. The designs were so successful that an entire new line was put into production in1928. New Art Deco ceramic shapes were added in 1929. In the late 1930s changing public tastes limited production and WW II ended it altogether. Some production was resumed after the War and continued off and on until 1963. Interest in Cliff's work was renewed with an exhibit of her works in England at both the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Brighton Museum in 1972. Later, in the same year, Cliff died and prices of her pottery began rising. In 1982, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York placed a small collection on view. Another English exhibition was assembled by the Warwick Museum in 1987.

Original marks and backstamps A great number and variety of marks were used on original Cliff pottery. That's why it is hard to show a "typical" mark or list general guidelines of original marks. Originals were hand painted, rubber stamped and lithographed; two or more methods were often used on one piece. Most rubber stamped and lithographed marks are in black ink but other colors of ink were used as well. A great deal of Cliff pottery is marked but many pieces are not. Entire sets of dinnerware, for example, that have survived the years intact will frequently have only one piece that is marked. Additional variations of marks appear on items made for large retail stores such as Harrods. From 1928-1937, most marks included a line name, such as "Bizarre Line" and the name "Clarice Cliff". These pieces can also have either the Wilkinson or Newport Pottery names as well. Between 1937 to 1963, the line names were dropped and backstamps had only the name "Clarice Cliff." In 1963, the use of the Clarice Cliff name was ended when the Newport factories were sold to a company named Midwinters.

Midwinters was in turn acquired by the Wedgwood Group in 1970. Reproductions, fakes and forgeries There are several potential problems with Cliff pottery: 1) New decorations on old undecorated blanks with original marks; 2) New marks on old unmarked decorated pieces; and 3) Application of forged old marks to new legitimate reproductions. In 1985, Midwinters (which took over Newport in 1963), decided to produce limited editions of some Cliff pieces. These included: Conical shape teapot in Umbrellas and Rain pattern; Conical sugar shakers in six different patterns (at this time unable to verify pattern names); a Mei Ping shape vase in Honolulu pattern and a 13" diameter wall plaque (charger) in the Summerhouse pattern. Prices for the limited editions ranged from about $20 for the sugar shakers to around $200 for a vase. Most of this production was distributed in England but some was presumably purchased by tourists and could turn up anywhere. All the Midwinters pieces were originally dated 1985 and carried a special backstamp.

If you encounter the above shapes and patterns, though, you might want to double check the mark. The Midwinter reproductions could carry forged old backstamps. The first outright fakes began surfacing about one year later, 1986, in London, England. These were made as copies of a Lotus (shape) vase. The glaze and painting were described as very poor but the forged backstamp was said to be very convincing. Since the mid-1980s a number of pieces of previously undecorated blanks with genuine backstamps have been newly painted in expensive old patterns such as Red Roofs, House and Bridge and others. These pieces were reported in England. Next, a group of legitimate reproductions was introduced in 1993 by The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) in New York. There were six new pieces made. Those included: a 6 1/2" Conical shape teapot of 20 oz. capacity decorated in Orange Autumn Cafe Au Lait pattern; a Conical shape 6 oz.

cup and saucer in Orange Autumn pattern; a 4" Bonjour shape jam pot in Windbells pattern; a 6 1/4" vase Shape #278 in Melon pattern; and a 10 1/4" dinner plate in an early abstract design. All the MMA pieces were painted by hand in the Philippines. They are all marked with an impressed copyright symbol, the year 1993 and the letters MMA (Fig. 2). As an experiment, we were able to obtain some forged old backstamps and applied them to several new MMA pieces. We first filled in the impressed marks with a thick transparent glaze then applied the marks. The result in Fig. 3, even at twice actual size, shows that the impressed mark is all but invisible. If we can do this well, then a professional can surely do much better. Separating new from old is not easy. Due to the large number of original backstamps used, it is hard to set down rules of how old marks should appear. The forged marks we used looked a little ragged under magnification but not much more so than the usual differences that appear among genuinely old marks.

Original Cliff pottery is heavier than the reproductions but, again, this knowledge isn't much use if you haven't examined originals. The shapes of the MMA pieces–the vase, jam pot, cup, saucer and plate–are unlikely to call attention because they are virtually exact copies of original shapes. The MMA teapot, however, is unique. It is very unusual for original Conical shape Cliff teapots to have open pierced handles; the majority of originals have solid handles. We were unable to examine any of the Midwinter pieces and can offer no advice on them. How widespread the use of forged marks on the Midwinter and MMA reproductions isn't known. Good forgeries escape detection, it's the poor work that gets caught. If you encounter any of the reproduced shapes with an apparently old backstamp be sure to give the mark a thorough inspection. Fig. 1-A New handles are open. Fig. 1-B Old handles are solid Figs. 1-A & 1-B The teapot above is one of six legitimate Clarice Cliff reproductions sold by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Forgeries of old backstamps, though, are being applied to these and other new Cliff reproductions.

This new teapot has an open pierced handle. Most comparable vintage handles were solid Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Figs. 2-3 The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) reproductions are impressed with the copyright symbol, year date and MMA as shown about actual size in Fig. 2. A MMA reproduction with the impressed mark filled in and a forged backstamp added is in Fig. 3. If you look closely at the arrrow, you can see the faint circle of the copyright mark. Shown about twice actual size. Fig. 4 1000+ images about Clarice Cliff Pottery on Pinterest | As you like it, Pottery and Ceramics Forward Vintage Newport Pottery “Clarice Cliff” Spring Crocus Bonjour Shape Sugar Sifter Lovely Newport Pottery “Clarice Cliff” Bonjour shaped sugar sifter in the Spring Crocus pattern which was designed in 1933, decorated in yellow, pink and blue crocuses on a cream/white background with bands of green above and below, on two roll feet. Marked underneath with “Newport Pottery Co England” & “Made in England” & “T”. With original stopper, cork has shrunk in width so is loose.

Dimensions:5… See More BBC Inside Out - Clarice Cliff Inside Out - West Midlands: Monday 3rd March, 2003 CLARICE CLIFF POTTERY PRICEY POTTERY | pound for pound, Clarice Cliff's work is worth more than gold For those of you with an eye for a collectable, Inside Out may have just the thing. With her bright and original designs, Clarice Cliff took the pottery world of the 1920s by storm. Now 80 years on, some of her work, pound for pound, is worth more than gold. Clarice Cliff was born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1899. By the First World War, she was working in one of the many factories that dominated the potteries. By the late 1920s, amid economic recession, Clarice was designing innovative, colour rich pottery and her career was blossoming. Clarice Cliff's career blossomed in the height of recession "She was successful when everyone else was just trying to make some money, she was making a load of money," explains Leonard Griffin, a Clarice Cliff expert and founder of the Clarice Cliff Collectors Club.

"The colours sold themselves, they were in the windows of the stores in London and major cities throughout the world." A colourful life Clarice’s pottery was matched in vibrancy by her equally colourful love life. During the 1920s, Clarice had an illicit affair with her then boss, Colly Shorter. Years later the pair married, but it was the couple’s business partnership that took the pottery industry by storm. "People have often said she wouldn’t have succeeded without him, but the fact is, his factory wouldn’t have succeeded without her," says Leonard. "This swish twenties woman came along and revolutionised British pottery for him." Bygone age Nowadays, Cliff’s pottery is still very much in demand and Inside Out meets Andy Muir from Birmingham, whose collection is arguably one of the largest in the UK. Andy selects a classic 1931 piece which he believes embodies Clarice’s work. "It’s a classic piece from 1931. Fantastic pattern called Orange House," says Andy. "Whimsical cottage and cartoony landscape, it’s everything Clarice was and is today." This may be a classic example of her work, but it is not the rarest in the collection.

That privilege belongs to an abstract 1930s piece that Andy bought in New Zealand. Today it would fetch a staggering £10,000. An acquired taste? Rene worked for Clarice 70 years ago, but wasn't the greatest fan of her work Whilst modern day collectors like Andy may marvel a bygone age, Inside Out has tracked down someone with first hand knowledge of Clarice Cliff. 85 year old Rene Dale, worked for Clarice at Newport pottery 70 years ago. Not only was Clarice an innovative, talented designer, but according to Rene, she an excellent boss as well. "You couldn’t have asked for a nicer boss. She thought the world of the girls you know," says Rene. "She has no family of her own and she sort of took us on as her family." Rene may be a huge fan of Clarice’s management style, but for Rene, her pottery was somewhat of an acquired taste. Pound for pound, Clarice's work is worth more than gold "We all thought it was so gaudy, but then that was the idea, she wanted it gaudy, she wanted it gay," explains Rene.

"She thought the British housewives deserved more colour in their lives." So with pieces of Clarice Cliff’s, fetching anywhere up to £20,000, what would this local girl from Stoke think of it all? Maybe Rene can answer that: "If Clarice knew what was going on now, she’d dig a hole and get into it. She wouldn’t have liked all this fuss." See also ... History of Clarice Cliff, one of the World's Most Influential Ceramics Artists Clarice Cliff born on January 20th 1899 in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent. Clarice started work at the age of 13 in 'The Potteries'. Moved to the AJ Wilkinson's pottery factory in 1916. Clarice given her own studio. The famous 'Bizarre' wares launched 1927. She marries her then boss, Colley Shorter, in 1940. Moves with Colley to Chetwynd House, with its stunning gardens. The factory continues to produce pottery bearing Clarice's name until 1964. Following Colley Shorter's death Clarice sells the factory to Midwinter's.

Clarice retires to Chetwynd House. The first Clarice Cliff exhibition takes place at Brighton in 1972 and Clarice provides comments for the catalogue. Clarice Cliff dies suddenly at Chetwynd House on 23rd October 1972. 1999 celebrated Worldwide as Clarice's Centenary year. Want to find out more? Become a member of ClariceCliff.com and access the full version of this website. Clarice Cliff - by Susan Scott Clarice Cliff Susan Scott In November, 1997, a Clarice Cliff Age of Jazz figure set a new record -- selling to a determined American collector at Christies for over $20,000. Earlier the same month, a huge 15" hexagonal vase in the rare and highly desired Football pattern sold in a northern English auction room for $3800. Amusingly, it had come from a solicitors office where a valuation expert had noticed the brightly colored vase being used as a doorstop. The years as a doorstop had resulted in damage to the base but the vase still sold well above estimate after determined bidding from collectors and dealers.

Clarice Cliff seems to be either idolized as an icon of the English Deco period or regarded as something of an aberration by design pundits of the period. Her life and her role in twentieth century British design history have been hotly debated. From the headline in a 1929 newspaper "Bizarre looks like a Russian ballet masters nightmare" to the headline in a 1993 Daily Mail "How an affair with a married man and the Bizarre Girls made Clarice Cliffs fortune" she has continued to attract notoriety. In 1931, the Pottery Gazette hailed Clarice as "a pioneer of advanced thought" and assured buyers that her work represented heirlooms of the future. Clarices story is well known. She was born in 1899 and grew up in a typical Potteries working class family. As one of eight children she was expected to go out to work at the earliest opportunity and at thirteen she left school and joined Lingard, Webster and Company. She was meant to apprentice for seven years in order to learn the skill of the enameller or free hand painter and for a five-and-a-half day week she was paid one shilling.

With so many men off at war she was able to move first to Hollinshead & Kirkham and, in 1916, to A.J.Wilkinson in the lithography department. Although she is often called an overnight success, in fact she spent four years hand painting, keeping pattern books and gilding before her work was noticed. One night when she had stayed after work, the decorating manager saw the plate she was decorating and showed it to the managing director, Colley Shorter. By late 1925 Clarice Cliff was considered Mr. Colleys prot�g�. She moved into a small apartment in Hanley much to her familys disapproval. At the same time Colley Shorter gave Clarice an office next to his at the Newport Pottery. Clarice and Colley spent more and more time behind the closed door of her studio. Neither her fellow workers nor the other directors approved of this relationship and Clarice grew more and more isolated. Colley Shorter decided that Clarice needed formal training and paid for her to go to the Royal College of Art in London for three months in 1927.

In the fall she was sent to Paris where she roamed the galleries and museums seeking ideas. Once again events conspired in Clarices favor. Just as the war had secured her a place at Wilkinsons, so in 1926 the General Strike in England had extended coal shortages. Factories were desperate for ware to sell. When Wilkinsons bought Newport Pottery in 1920, they inherited many hundreds of pieces of pottery which were still sitting in various stockrooms around the factory. In a letter to the Brighton Museum in 1972, Clarice said that "this huge stock had always interested me and presented a challenge." She was given permission to set up a small studio and she and fifteen-year-old Gladys Scarlett set about covering the ware with brightly colored geometric decoration. Soon five more girls joined them, and Clarice set up a system for outlining, enameling and banding. The girls were told by Clarice to use the paint thickly and make the brush strokes obvious, the reverse of their usual instructions. Colley was working at the same time on a marketing plan and decided the ware should have a name. Clarice settled on "Bizarre".

Next Colley sent Clarice and a couple of the Bizarre girls to London to be photographed demonstrating the hand painting of Bizarre ware in a shop window. In September the true test came. Wilkinsons salesman, the very skeptical Ewart Oakes, was sent off with a carload of "Bizarre". He sold out before the end of the week. In retrospect it is truly incredible how quickly things moved after that. Colley was a master of the art of modern advertising. He planned his "Bizarre" campaign with great skill. Newspapers and womens magazines often featured photographs of Bizarre girls sitting in a shop window painting. The girls would sit dressed in artists smocks with big black bows at the neck and berets on their heads demonstrating their work. Colley hired well-known personalities to come to the shows and be seen and photographed buying pieces of Clarices "Bizarre". The constant creation of new patterns was a successful method of keeping "Bizarre" in the public eye. In 1931 Clarice and Colley had the idea of installing a radio in the shop so the Bizarre girls could listen to music while they painted.

Whether productivity really did go up 25% is irrelevant; once again they achieved a wave of publicity. Photographs of the girls working on Bizarre ware were always good for the order book and Colley and Clarice were brilliant at capturing the publics attention. The simple geometric patterns which Clarice designed were easily learned by her semi-skilled fourteen year old girls and she decided to move on to other designs. The Crocus pattern was instantly successful, and remained a best seller for the factory into the 1960s. Early in 1929 demand was so great for "Crocus" that a separate shop was set up underneath the Bizarre shop and at its peak employed twenty girls. Collectors today revere Clarice for patterns like Sunray and Lucerne, but it is patterns like Crocus and Ravel which kept the factory working. Newport Pottery made such enormous profits in 1929 that Colley Shorter decided to issue a new series of designs under the name "Fantasque". It was classed as part of the Wilkinson production for tax purposes. This was simply bookkeeping; all the ware was still decorated in the Bizarre shop.

The first Fantasque range consisted of eight patterns including such popular ones as Umbrellas and Rain, Broth and Fruit. There were now 25 girls and boys working in the Bizarre shop -- most of them sixteen years old or younger. They were arranged according to their jobs with the front benches occupied by outliners who passed their work on to enamellers. The banders and liners sat at the back and finished the decorating process. The vast stock of old Newport ware was running down and Clarice was busy creating new shapes more in keeping with her designs. The whole of Newport Pottery was soon given over to the production of Bizarre ware. By the start of 1930 the biscuit and glost ovens were manned 24 hours a day. By 1931 the 25 boys and girls had grown to 150. It is impossible to describe all the patterns and shapes which Clarice designed or supervised in the next few years or the speed at which events moved. In an interview at the time Clarice was asked about design ideas and she said some weeks were better than others. That week she had only come up with twelve new designs!

Usually Clarice would assign a particular pattern to one outliner -- from working through the pattern to filling all the orders. When a pattern became too much in demand for one girl to do, others were trained to work alongside. Look closely at several pieces of a pattern like Trees and House and you will begin to see the different styles of the girls. Part of the charm of Clarice Cliff lies in the minute variations in pattern resulting from different paintresses copying them at different times. Sometimes the girls worked from memory when the pattern book was unavailable -- the results can sometimes be quite varied but always interesting. The first of the Applique range was designed in April 1930. The range was more expensive to produce since so many colors were used and it sold for about 25% more than Bizarre. It did not sell particularly well and was mostly phased out by 1932. At the start of 1931 Clarice came up with two Fantasque landscapes -- Autumn and Summerhouse. Autumn sold very well for more than a year and then Clarice replaced it with Pastel Autumn and Orange Autumn to create a new market.

She was very skilled at alternating colorways in order to rekindle interest in a pattern. Before the end of the year among the patterns she had introduced were Red Roofs, Farmhouse, House and Bridge and Gibraltar. It is difficult to imagine in todays climate of committee design, just how quickly Clarice and Colley responded to the need to create new products for a depressed marketplace. Clarice was even more productive in 1932 if this were possible. Floral patterns included Nasturium, Canterbury Bells, Chintz and Hollyrose" Fruit patterns like Apples, Oranges and Lemons and Pastel Melon were introduced. Landscapes were even more prolific--Limberlost, Poplar, Pink Roof Cottage, Moonlight, May Avenue, and Pastel Autumn and Orange Autumn. Only one year later, fashions had changed, people no longer wanted her brilliant colors and Clarice introduced her last true Bizarre landscape Bridgewater. With the ever-deepening worldwide depression, Clarice could no longer afford to fail and this may have created the climate for the uninspired patterns of the latter half of the 1930s.

By 1935, even the name "Bizarre" had been phased out and the pottery was simply marked "Clarice Cliff, Newport Pottery or Wilkinson Ltd., England"(the whole subject of backstamps is enormously complicated and if interested you should consult The Bizarre Affair). In November 1939 Colley Shorters wife died after a lengthy illness. Colley and Clarice married secretly a year later. Neither Colley nor Clarices family approved of the relationship and they had few visits from family members. After the war Colley spent time overseas trying to stimulate sales. Late in 1949 he and Clarice went to Canada and the United States, giving interviews and taking orders. Although Crocus was still being produced, most of the other post-war ware -- with the Clarice Cliff signature above Royal Staffordshire Ceramics -- seems to bear no relation to her earlier work and has never been considered collectible. After Colleys death Clarice sold the factory to Roy Midwinter and lived a reclusive life at Chetwynd until her death in 1972. Clarice Cliff was unique.

She chose to interpret art deco in her medium -- ceramics -- with vivid colors and strong lines unlike any seen before. For a very few brief years she was encouraged to try anything -- no matter how extreme -- and try anything she did. She said in 1930 that "color seems to radiate happiness and the spirit of modern life" and somehow that is what she created with her pottery -- joy and a sense of limitless possibility. When you look at a piece of Clarice Cliff Pottery you can almost see that room full of young boys and girls listening to the radio, gossiping about the dance to come, and painting as fast they can. Bevis Hillier argued that "the cosy genius...continues to appeal because there are moments when one feels like cosiness rather than angst, profundity or high art." Clarice Cliff was a cosy genius who made people feel brighter in the darkening 1930s. Clearly her work is having the same effect in the 1990s. Tales of Clarice Cliff Collecting Some years ago in London, a South African collector told me about the "Latona Dahlia" teaset he had discovered.

A lady called him about "a teaset with flowers on" and when he arrived it was a 23 piece teaset in a pattern so rare that one piece causes excitement. When he asked how much she wanted she said it had been a wedding gift and was not for sale...but that she would trade it for a new microwave which she had seen in a nearby store. He said he ran so fast to the store and then back carrying the microwave that he thought he might collapse before the teaset was his! Len Griffin, the president of the Clarice Cliff Collectors Club, and the researcher of most of the current information on patterns and shapes, tells the story of the elderly lady who put two 18" YoYo vases in "Latona Roses" out for the garbage men to pick up. Luckily her neighbor rescued them and suggested she get them valued. They sold for $16,000 and she was able to buy the council house she had lived in for so many years. A friend of mine showed me a tiny figure of a horse he had picked up in a garage sale in London, Ontario for under one dollar.

I sent off a picture of his discovery to Len Griffin; he thinks it may be part of the 1930 Impressions series made by Clarice herself. Very few of these pieces exist and most are in the Brighton Museum. How did this one end up in Canada and who knows what it is worth? Just before Len was to give a talk in New Zealand early in 1996, a woman showed him a miniature teaset in Honolulu pattern. This unique set had been sent to her mother in South Africa along with a personal note from Clarice, suggesting that some day they might use it to have tea together. More than sixty years later, both mother and daughter had come along to hear Len speak and tell him this incredible story! Tips for collectors: More and more collectors are using the Internet to buy internationally. This can be wonderful since it gives you an opportunity to buy in places like New Zealand and South Africa where you may not be willing or able to travel. It also means that you must have great faith in the seller. You may be wise to establish return policies in advance and in writing before you send off for a very expensive piece of Clarice Cliff from a dealer you know nothing about.

Clarice prices seem to climb higher every year but, unless your budget is without limit, you would be wise to study the auction catalogues from the past ten years very carefully. Ten years ago the price for Lotus jugs was incredible, then the prices dropped and they have slowly edged back up. Three years ago anything from the Applique range went through the roof and yet at the 1996 auction at Christies, a number of pieces remained unsold. Ten years ago you could easily assemble a collection of conical sugar dredgers for a few hundred dollars each. Today a rare conical can cost from $3000 and up! Sometimes in North America dealers price anything with a Clarice Cliff backstamp as though it were a wonderful hand-painted bit of Bizarre. Like most Staffordshire potteries after the war, the Wilkinson factory suffered hard times and they produced anything they thought would sell. Although the pieces may have a Clarice Cliff backstamp, few of them were designed by Clarice and they are not of interest to most serious collectors who are looking for the hand painted wares from the late 1920s to the mid-1930s.

If you like the idea of Clarice Cliff, but simply cannot afford to spend $1000 on a sugar dredger, or $20,000 on an Age of Jazz figure, the 1992 and 1993 Wedgwood reproductions might interest you. They were issued in a limited edition of 500 and are carefully marked. When they were introduced they sold anywhere from $125-400. Interestingly, the November 1997 auction at Christies South Kensington included a section of these Wedgwood reproductions. The Solditude vase (see photograph) was $325 originally, but sold for $865 five years later. There was also a range done by Midwinter in 1985 but these do not turn up very often especially in North America. The Museum of Modern Art in New York brought out a series of pieces loosely based on Clarice Cliff designs several years ago and they are still in production in the Philippines today and featured in the MOMA catalogue.

The pieces are easily distinguished from 1930s Clarice -- they are impressed with the date and MOMA and the body is much lighter than the originals. Unlike the carefully marked reproductions, fake dredgers have started to appear. As prices for Clarice Cliff continue to go up, it was inevitable that fakes would start to turn up. In December, 1994 the first fake conicals appeared at a "deco" antique fair in England. Since then, a number have been sold in Red Roofs, House & Bridge, Orange Erin and Sungay. Len Griffin, head of the Clarice Cliff Collectors Club, suggests that although the shape is quite well modeled the quality of the painting is poor. The body feels good but the base rim is ground flat -- instead of the rim it should have -- and the holes go too far up to the top. The banding is wavy and there are gaps between colors which is not true of the originals. The dredgers simply look too shiny and there are no scratches and no wear. It is very difficult to match Clarices colorways with todays paints, so look at each piece carefully.

Beware of that bargain in the flea market; by now the fakes will have made their way to America. Lotus jugs have turned up in Orange Roof Cottage and Orange Erin. Unlike genuine Clarice Cliff where the decoration is applied within an outline, these fakes are only partly outlined and have areas of decoration applied freehand. Yet another favourite trick of fakers is to take a genuine Clarice Cliff mid-1930s plain or banded dinner plate and add an enamel pattern to the center. If you look closely you should be able to see the mistakes in color and pattern. Another clue is the impressed date stamp on the underside of the plate. If it is 36 or 37 and you know the pattern dates to 1930, it may be worth looking more closely. Because prices for Clarice Cliff are so high, obviously more and more pieces are being restored. As long as they are properly marked and priced, this is not an issue. You should always look very closely at the tips of conical sugars and the spouts of tea and coffee pots. Ask the dealer if he/she knows of any restoration. The more pieces you look at and handle, the better able you will be to spot repairs.

If you are relatively new to Clarice collecting, you should spend some time reading some of the books and studying the pictures. It is very easy to buy a mismatched cup and saucer or jampot and lid. Patterns vary enormously in price and it is worth finding out exactly which patterns are most valuable. Often dealers who dont specialize in Clarice price similar pieces around the same price. If you happen to stumble on two plates, one Coral Firs and one May Avenue, would you know which one to buy if they were both priced at $500? If you see a May Avenue plate for $500 please give e-mail me! Further Reading The Classic Creatives: Clarice Cliff | The Young Creatives The Classic Creatives: Clarice Cliff Clarice Cliff, ceramic artist extraordinaire (1899-1972). What did she do? Clarice was famed for her iconic designs: her striking use of colour and pattern make her pieces instantly recognisable, and her work is still highly sought after by collectors. Her pieces regularly sell at auction for thousands of pounds.

Having been surrounded by the industry from a young age – her aunts worked as hand painters at a nearby pottery firm – Clarice undertook a number of apprenticeships before being given her own studio; it was then that she began to create her own patterns on pieces of broken pottery. She named her products the ‘Bizarre’ range and called the team of young women who painted her designs the ‘Bizarre girls’. In 1928, she created the ‘Crocus’ ranges, and it was here that her success began to accelerate. By 1929, she had over 70 people working for her. In the early 1930s, she was appointed the manager of a project that involved dozens of the period’s best artists, titled Modern Art for the Table. Other artists involved included Barbara Hepworth, Vanessa Bell and Paul Nash. She worked with a diverse range of products, including plates, vases and coffee pots, and created all of her designs by hand. What inspired her work?

Clarice was born and raised in Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, which is still famed for its pottery today (among others, it’s home to the Wedgwood Museum); it was a city buzzing with opportunity for budding ceramic artists. One of the biggest influences in her work was the Art Deco movement, which favoured bold patterns, striking colour and screamed 1920s glamour. Many of her pieces were based around hot, dusty landscapes, often painted in Mediterranean-esque brights: think deep blue skies, rolling yellow fields and a red-roofed cottage. What is her best known piece of work? Her Crocus range is still what she is best known for, but all of her work is loved across the globe; a plaque she painted sold in America for £39,500. Why should I care about her work? In a time when the ‘career woman’ didn’t exist – women had barely managed to secure the vote when Cliff was at her most prevalent during the 1930s – Clarice managed to successfully make her mark on a traditionally male industry, based purely on her talent. Her hard-work ethic – undertaking strenuous apprenticeships and developing her talents on the job – makes her an inspiration.

Work hard and the results will – eventually – come. Considering that she created her designs alone, her huge range of varied patterns reflect her expert eye for design. Her colourful pieces brought a splash of practical style to homes across the country. She said… ‘Having a little fun at my work does not make me any less of an artist and people who appreciate truly beautiful and original creations in pottery are not frightened by innocent tomfoolery!’ More of Clarice’s designs can be seen at the Victoria & Albert museum . Like this:

Question: What did Clarice Cliff create?
Answer: Pottery