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Week 94 Bonus Artist - CLARICE CLIFF

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Jenny Harris

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Clarice Cliff (1899-1972) is today regarded as one of the most influential ceramic artists of the twentieth century and her work is collected the world over. She was born in Tunstall, Stoke on Trent, and started work aged 13 in ‘The Potteries’.  Later given her own studio, the famous ‘Bizarre’ wares launched in 1927 and the factory continued to produce pottery bearing her name until 1964. When a few internationally known singers and Hollywood celebrities began collecting the ‘quirky’ shapes and colourful patterns in the 1960s and 1970s, small pockets of collectors with an eye for the eclectic began buying her unique pottery in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand as well as in the UK.   Very little was known about her at the time, yet in 1971 the Minneapolis Institute of Arts acknowledged her as a major Art Deco designer when a number of her pieces appeared in their influential ‘World of Art Deco’ exhibition. In Britain, the Brighton Museum held a Clarice Cliff retrospective exhibition in 1972 to which she contributed notes for the catalogue and some piece of her own collection, later giving them to the museum.   She died suddenly in 1972.  1999 was celebrated worldwide as her centenary year.

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by Jenny Harris

Tessa Gwynne

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Very attractive and stylish designs Jenny, and certainly still popular with collectors.
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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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Thank you for the introduction Jenny , love your selection of her work. Must go and have a look and hope to choose a couple I really like. 
my profile pic10

Lewis Cooper

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I like her work very much.  It's art deco, a favourite style.  Always stylish, if not always practical...I'm thinking of a range she designed with solid triangular handles, not the ideal way to hold a hot cup of tea.  Oddly when I think of 'modern' art it's usually in this style, although it's a hundred years old now.
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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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I do admire her work but to be honest I would not give it house space if I could afford it. The colours and the shapes are beautifully done but as Lew says not very practical were they actually used? and how on earth did you wash then without breakages. A few that caught my eye but not in my collection of odds  and sods would quite like the cash though .
our Lady2

Jim Morris

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Stylish, bold and original. Better understood by me now than in the past...but, like Paul, not anything I'd want to own. The art popularity factor is probably  way unbalanced by the monetary one with the name Clarice Cliff far better known by fans of Antiques Roadshow than any genuine art lover . What would you do if you found a Van Gogh painting except sell it? Better a good copy you could safely hang on your wall. (-:

Tessa Gwynne

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Isn’t that a thought Jim? A VG in the attic! Maybe keep and enjoy for a month, then SELL!
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Gillian Cooke

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Our art group chose  Clarice as one of our ‘in the style of projects. Up until then I  hadn’t really studied her designs but fell in love with her trees!  She really was a trailblazer in art deco

Sylvia Evans

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I think a lot of us of a certain age were very familiar with Clarice Cliff.  My mum had some.  But I have never really liked it though I see her ability in the designs.I think it's the colours , Mind you I wouldn't mind back some of the stuff I gave away. 
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, NAPA

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That jug is rather special - Clarice Cliff fetches quite a bit of money now; it did even 50 years ago, when I sold it in an antique shop I worked in.  I'm not keen on the very ornate stuff (the jug is a bit over the top), but a tea-party, with Clarice's crockery, and a chocolate éclair, full-cream milk, oh yes.  Very civilized,   My mother had a fair bit of "for best" china - eg, a tray shaped like a leaf, in rather attractive green, a jam or marmelade pot, shaped like an orange, with a lid, with its own spoon ... I wouldn't want it, and haven't got it, but I hope it went to a good home.  You can't beat a bit of quality china on the table - much better than Tupperware (though the real stuff also fetches premium prices nowadays!).  There's always a home for accoutrements - there's a good word to cover all eventualities - that are well-made, and pleasing to the eye.  They set off the cucumber sandwiches and Ritz crackers (can you still get those?) with thinly sliced cheese ..... éclairs to follow, on the cake-stand, with scones, and rock-cakes ..... You know, I do believe end-of-the-year nostalgia is setting in...

Sylvia Evans

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I've got Ritz crackers in the cupboard Robert courtesy of Tesco .   I also have a couple of the green leaf plates you mentioned they are Wedgwood.    Stoke on Trent There are still a few of the old kilns there.. Enjoy your Christmas. 

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by Sylvia Evans