Clarice Cliff was a prolific ceramic artist who rose to fame in the 1920s and 1930s for her distinctive pieces that featured bright colours and avant-garde designs. Throughout her life, she was dedicated to learning new styles and perfecting her craft, and today her work is still highly sought after by ceramic collectors and art lovers worldwide. But who really was Clarice Cliff and how did she come to be such a leading figure in the world of ceramics?

Birthplace and Childhood

Clarice Cliff was born in Turnstall, UK in 1922. She was one of seven children born to a father who worked in an iron foundry and a mother who was a washerwoman. She discovered her love for ceramics at a young age when she would visit her aunt after school and watch her hand paint ceramics for a local pottery factory. She started working in pottery factories herself at the young age of 13, first as a gilder and later as a hand painter just like her aunt. This inspired her to attend night classes at the Burslem School of Art to study sculpture and fine art.

The Beginning of Cliff’s Career

Cliff’s career really began when she took a job at the A.J. Wilkinson pottery factory in 1916. Here she utilised her skills and experience in gilding and hand painting and took it upon herself to learn how to model vases and figurines. Her employers were impressed with her skills, especially owner Arthur Colley Austin Shorter, who helped her to study at the Royal College of Art in Paris. He would eventually become her husband. In 1927, Cliff was given her own studio where she would develop her signature ‘Bizarre’ style.

Signature Styles

Clarice Cliff’s famous Bizarre style came about when she began decorating defective white wares with bright geometric patterns in on-glaze enamel hues that really allowed the vibrant colours to pop. These pieces were an instant hit with the public and allowed Cliff to delve further into modelling pieces and hand painting designs that featured Art Deco, Cubist and Moderne influences. Orders flooded in and soon she was managing a team of painters and creating new ranges including Fantasque, Appliqué, and Delecia.

Later Life

In 1930, Cliff was appointed the Art Director of the Newport Pottery Studio and she went on to produce a vast array of ceramic wares until her retirement in 1964. Clarice Cliff passed away in 1972, but her large body of beautiful and highly distinctive ceramic wares still endures today in galleries and private collections around the world.