Christie’s need not have worried. ‘Miss Cliff’s’ pottery, always so controversial, in the thirties and today, triumphed! The sale saw 79% sell by value, 70% by lot. It raised £146,000, no mean feat given there were just 241 lots.
 

High prices were made by the Age of Jazz Musicians figure, £9987, the 4 inch high May Avenue 562 vase was £3525, and the Oranges shape 442 Biscuit Barrel was £4465! CLICK PICTURES FOR LARGER VIEW >

The sale also had some real bargains, a good reason for attending in person, as these can be knocked down in 10 seconds. These include the shape 370 globe in Gardenia, for just £2115, one dealer reputedly had over £5000 to bid on it. The stunning Red Broth double handle Lotus was only £1880, whereas the much more readily available Honolulu version of the same shape was sold for £4465. A good Inspiration Caprice Lotus was a bargain at £1292, Perhaps the biggest bargain of the sale was the Inspiration Grotesque mask; it was sold for just £1645, we would recommend an insurance vale on this of at least £2500. Collectors sometimes miss the fact that private sellers putting pieces into auction often have low reserves as they are not collectors who covet the piece, but just want to sell!

The Golly and Laughing cat pencil holders were both good buys at £1527 each, and a Delecia Citrus teapot milk and sugar were a great buy at £881. But a red Trees and House Stamford teapot sold with two cups and saucers made a high £1997; this show again that collectors will pay a premium for pieces in red rather than orange colourways! Perhaps this was why the broken and re–glued Spain wall mask, under 5 inches high, made £763?
 

The rare Xanthic Daffodil shape teaset was a good buy at £1880 and maybe even though it sold for £4935, the rare and unique House & Bridge Conical coffeeset was still a bit of a bargain!? A ‘gem’ of a plate was lot 227, a simple Mondrian octagonal plate with blue banding which made £528.

One of the two Orange House plates made £881, the other was £470, showing how slight differences in how a piece is painted will spur collector to bid a great deal more.

The only low spots in the sale were the cups and saucers section, where pieces entered by trade or collectors had too high reserves and quite a few failed to sell, although an Appliqué Lugano Blue tankard can and saucer made £1116, and a (hairlined!) Blue W in the same shape was £705. The other ‘flat’ section was in Bowls, where 9 of the 19 lots did not sell, but notably a large Gibraltar washbasin made £1175, and a Clouvre Daffodil bowl was £1762. The sale ended on a high note when the (damaged but) beautiful 18 inch Gibraltar wall plaque made £2830.

Christie’s Michael Jeffery was delighted with the result, but also a little sad, as it was his last sale at Christie’s. He is leaving to join an auctioneers in Salisbury.
Its always been too easy to take Clarice Cliff prices for granted, but this sale show how strong she is in the market, particularly when we note that in comparison the recent Susie Cooper sale at Christie’s saw just 25% of lots sold. This Clarice Cliff sale suggests a buoyant market for the major Cliff sale at Bonham’s on November 28th. Perhaps some of the unsold lots at Christie’s were because people were saving something for the rather special private collection they are selling?

For more pictures of the items mentioned above please view our pre-sale Preview of this auction - CLICK HERE.

Full Christie’s results are available here:

http://www.christies.com/auction/results/results_lotlist.asp?saleno=CSK9512