The tempestuous weather on Christie’s viewing days meant less collectors were able to get to London to check the sale, so not surprisingly on the day there were less than the usual number of people in the Hanger. Yet there seemed to be many new faces in the room, notably couples pouring over catalogues and coordinating bidding; Clarice always has been a shared passion….! The strength of the dollar against the pound meant there were more than the usual American bidders, both collectors and dealers. The lower turnout did not impede the ‘Clarice Cliff magic’ as we were to see a sale where 84% of the lots sold!

The Vase section started with more available and common shapes and designs so prices were generally as expected. Some later shapes and less sought after designs failed to sell, and others because of high estimates. Bargains here included the shape 370 Gloria Globe vase for £325. High prices included lot 22, an Original Bizarre vase for £881 and the same design on a shape 120 was £750. The sought after shape 360 in Inspiration Caprice made £1410. The Stagecoach from Chetwynd House with Colley Shorter’s initials was a bargain at £352. Perhaps surprisingly, bidders ignored some quite good early pieces at around £300 to £350, whilst a pair of the very available Lovebirds vases made £329. The Melon 365 was the first real surprise of the sale selling to an American bidder in the room for a record £3525. This made the same shape in Summerhouse seem reasonable at £1762! The same American bidder also secured the shape 370 Globe in InspirationClouvre for £3525. A Rudyard ConicalRose bowl was £2115, whilst the Pastel Melon shape 14 made a 'way above estimate’ £4112. The 'Star' lot in the in the sale in terms of provenance and history was the untypical but still wonderful TibetanGinger jar, decorated by Clarice Cliff herself in 1926. It made £9400. It sold to a British female buyer who later commented ’I thought I did well’ and that she was pleased with the price.

Some restored or hairlined Lotus jugs were ignored by bidders at the start of the next section, but then an Inspiration Caprice was £3290, and an OrangeRoof Cottage £3055. Overall, there were not as many good examples as in previous sales, which explains the results. A series of Fancies followed, which saw a TennisCaldron make £564, a Melon Sabot £564, whilst a pairof shape 331 candlesticks in Blue Autumn seemed a bargain at £352 As was to be the case later in the sale, a high estimate caused a lot to fail here: the Autumn Shell shape miniature cruet was estimated at £600-800. An OrangeHouse Drum shape jampot was the star of this section selling for £822. Then, a couple, who had managed to get to London from Scotland, were rewarded with a good Conical Bowl in Trees andHouse for £998. The Capricorn Star sign (Clarice’s sign) made £587.

There were very high and low prices in Conical sugar Dredgers. A damaged Orange Hydrangea was £235 whilst a Honolulu seemed a bargain at £822. Orange Erin made a high £2820 and a Xanthic was £1997. Several Laura Knight plates made £646 to £998. A very high £3290 for a Hereford shape biscuit barrel was fetched by the example in House & Bridge. A section of Coronet and Athens jugs saw a Sunray make £950 and a rare Kandina £1075. The first two Appliqué lots, bowls, failed to reach rather higher estimates, but the AppliquéIdyll dinner service was then the top price in the sale. A South African buyer paid £15,275 against a £5000-7000 estimate, after competitive bidding between the telephones and the room.

A major surprise was the Teapot/Teasets section: a Bon Jour in Delecia Pansies was £1762 selling to an English collector, whilst an almost complete Stamford Melon set was a bargain at £2232. As just a few lots before a singleConical teapot in Melon was £1527 it is not possible to explain the prices! The Blue Cowslip Bon Jour set failed to sell against its estimate of £3500-4000, whereas 25 pieces of BlueChintz tea and coffee ware and plates was a very good buy at £3525. The 21 piece Melon pieces that followed also seemed a very good buy for £3760. A record price for Lynton teaware of £3525 was made by the Delecia Pansies set, and then a Lynton coffee set (with a hairlined pot) made a high £2585 against a £700-900 estimate. The highest price paid for a single Appliqué piece in the sale was £4112 for the stunning Palermo plaque. A large Plate section with average or below prices followed this, although a Poplar made £705 and the perfect Orange Roof Cottage was a high £940. After the high prices for Delecia Pansies earlier the Biarritz seemed a bargain at £446. The interest in the Heads ofNations continues, the only example in the sale, Egypt made £1527. The final six lots were plates and plaques: the Appliqué Avignon plate made £2115, Red Melon and RedTulip plates remained unsold, and the rare InspirationAutumn plaque was £2115 and the charger in Inspiration Caprice seemed reasonable at £2350.

Overall the market was amazingly strong at this sale, given the smaller attendance. If Christie’s had assembled more, perfect pieces, the market certainly wants them, as not everyone was lucky enough to take something home with them. It seems there are more buyers than sellers in the Clarice Cliff world still, which has been the case for several years now… 

Christie’s Michael Jeffery commented ‘We were very pleased with the sale, with 84% sold and some strong prices. We are looking forward to once again holding two sales in 2001, in May and November.’