The Clarice Cliff story remains an intriguing one because there are so many un-answered questions about her influences and work. We will never really know why she was so inspired and creative, and dreamed up such a vast number of amazing shapes and vibrant designs between 1927 and 1936. Any new vase or pattern attracts attention, but now a new pattern has been found, that is even more exciting as it clearly contains examples of various Clarice Cliff designs all on ONE piece.
 

The discovery came about in New Zealand, prompted by a vast amount of local publicity about the recent major Clarice Cliff sale by Percy’s of Hawkes Bay. A lady had inherited the 12-inch Lotus jug from her mother who bought it in the ‘china department’ of the Auckland store ‘Milne and Choyce’ in the early 1930's and it has never been seen publicly since then.

We cannot find the pattern anywhere! It consists of four
‘Chinese lanterns’ wrapped around a Lotus jug, almost filling the full height. Above them are pendant orange and blue flowers painted freehand. There is a simple band of blue at the top inner rim, and orange at the base. When Clarice was working under Fred Ridgway he did a printed and lustred design of Chinese lanterns, (see page 19 Art of Bizarre) so the image was one she had already seen. What is amazing though is that as shown above the pattern has elements of several patterns very similar to: Caprice, a fantastic bridge, Pebbles the diagonal Zigzags, and Latona, a stylised flower, and the blue geometric form from Blue Dahlia.
 

The exact date it was made is not known but there are clues. The jug has the registered shape number and ’Lotus shape’ impressed in the base, so it is the original version of this shape (issued from 1919 onwards) before Clarice confusingly re-modelled it with more ribbing and changed the name to Isis in late 1929. To distinguish these The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club has always described the handled version as Lotus, but the vase as Isis. This means this piece almost certainly dates from 1928 or 1929. This fits with the fact that Pebbles and Caprice are both from 1928, and the images here are similar but not identical suggesting it pre-dates them.

Another major clue about the origin of the piece is that that most unusually it has outlining in both black and brown: note the Original Bizarre style star-shape is brown, whilst the lanterns are outlined in black, Further, the small flowers are painted freehand, These techniques were rarely combined on production ware. This leads to several possibilities. The piece may have been a sample painted by Clarice Cliff herself, as the various techniques and colours are just not typical of production ware from Newport Pottery. The affect is not so much of a ‘pattern’ but almost as if she ‘doodled’ the images.

Dating the piece to 1928 is also possible as it has the large, early Bizarre backstamp. This also fits with the fact that Pebbles and Caprice are both from late 1928. The images are similar but not identical suggesting it pre-dates them. The simple banding and full height of the pattern also suggest this, plus the fact that the handle is painted blue, another clue that it is VERY early.
 

An alternate theory about the Lotus jug is that it was a ‘custom pattern’ ordered for the Auckland store. The very strange mix of styles rather suggest it was painted and created directly on the ware, not from a watercolour as was the case with pieces Clarice's outliners did samples of. This all suggests it was painted by one person, not outlined and then enamelled and banded by a team. Whatever the story, it remains a fascinating ‘missing link’ in the Clarice Cliff design range, and thanks to Percy’s is on the world wide Web for all to enjoy. The seller ‘wants it to go to a collector’ and it is to be auctioned on April 30th in Napier, New Zealand. It is at that point that we will discover what this rarity will cost! If you would like to know more, and the estimate, e-mail Raewyn on: napierantiquecentre@xtra.co.nz or percysofhb@xtra.co.nz (The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club would like to thank Percy’s for the exclusive Internet use of these images. Text © Leonard Griffin® 2001, and may not be reproduced without written permission) ‘Leonard Griffin’ is a Registered trademark of The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club. 14th April 2001