Clarice Cliff

Clarice Cliff is one of the most important and well-known Art Deco ceramic designers in Britain and abroad. Her brightly hand-painted tablewares decorated with stylised landscapes, flowers and a whole range of abstract patterns skilfully applied to art deco shapes took the rather traditional and reserved British pottery market by storm during the late twenties and early thirties. Her Bizarre wares, the name given to her first range, were in such demand that new tea and coffee ware shapes were created for the table alongside vases, face masks and many amusing fancies. This book looks at how Clarice Cliff became so successful through great determination, her intuitive sense of colour and shape and an understanding of what sort of pottery the younger generation wanted in their new homes. This was coupled with her great ability to interpret the latest contemporary patterns and shapes from Europe and adapt the style for the more reserved British market. The popularity of her art deco classics has led to a large international collectors' market which has grown considerably over the last twenty years with specialist auctions and exhibitions dedicated to her life and work which has proved so popular that the prices realised for certain rare and less well-known items has exceed GBP15,000. The main part of the book focuses on collecting Clarice Cliff pottery highlighting the development of her patterns and shapes alongside an extensive price guide that gives the collector full information about actual sales with detailed information on dates and prices realised at reputable auctions.