Chrysalis Books have re-printed two of the most popular Clarice Cliff books

Taking Tea with Clarice Cliff was first issued in 1996, and has been re-printed many times. It is now available again in paperback. It covers Clarice's large range of teaware shapes in depth. Original paintress Marjory Higginson who worked for Clarice from 1929 to 1956, said of it:

'What a delightful book! I sat up on Saturday and read it right through. So easy to pick up and hard to put down'

With a re-designed cover the book is otherwise as the original and is £6.99 in Great Britain from Chrysalis Books

Hailed as the definitive book written by 'the world's foremost authority' on Clarice Cliff The Art of Bizarre by Leonard Griffin has also just had another paperback edition issued

The book was produced to celebrate Clarice's Centenary and was linked to the Wedgwood Centenary Clarice Cliff exhibition. It covers the story in-depth with over 65,000 words and many illustrations and archive images. Chapters cover the origins of Bizarre, the Art Deco designs, Clarice's 'Bizarre' girls, shapes and facemasks, and it also has unique colour images of Clarice in the 1950's. It has an extensive shape and pattern listing. The new paperback is £16.99 from Chrysalis Books.

Our Age of Jazz store has HARDBACK copies of Art of Bizarre, the only place on the Internet to still sell these, and they are also signed by Leonard Griffin

CLICK HERE

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com, where you get more News, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club - founded in 1982!

Posted Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 11:40 GMT by adhutton:

I was abroad when I heard that much cherished Bizarre ‘girl’ Alice Andrews, had died

Until a stroke in 2003 she had the constitution and energy of a 40 year old. As well as invaluable help with my books, looking after the ‘girls’ and chasing them up to come to our CCCC re-unions, she did charity work and had appeared in stores for Wedgwood to promote reproduction ware. This, and her travels to meet collectors in South Africa, and appearances at club events are already well documented in our club publications, and on this site, so in the Spring/Summer Review we are publishing a celebration of Alice written BY members in the Spring/Summer CCCC Review

Leonard Griffin

Posted Friday, March 19, 2004 - 18:05 GMT by adhutton:

Doreen Mann reports on the 10th March 2004 sale at the Bath auction rooms

Well, they were ALL there – Secrets, Melon, May Avenue, Umbrellas, House and Bridge, Apples, Solitude, Red Roofs, Sunray, Blue W, Mondrian, Orange Roof Cottage, and so on.. but in keeping with Clarice Cliff’s Bizarre Shop at its peak in the 1930’s, it was the two INSPIRATION lots which achieved the highest prices. A majestic-looking Inspiration Caprice two-handled 11.5” Lotus jug commanded £1600, the top price in the Clarice section of this sale. A close runner-up was a rare Inspiration Tresco 9” high Mei-Ping Vase, again in top condition, which flew to £1200 (estimated at £1000-1500). Surprisingly, the star lot and front cover feature – the May Avenue Bon Jour Vase failed to realize its estimate of £7500-£9000.

There was a wide range and condition of plates ~ something for all tastes and budget – but none finer than lot 186, an outstanding Farmhouse 10” which sold for £700, its estimate was £400-600. Two other excellent examples (same size) were the Windbells Plate at £400 and the Orange Secrets Plate at £500. A real “steal” however, was an earlier lot - a Tulips 12.75” wall plaque which sold at £460 (est. £450/£650). Its new owner must be EXTREMELY pleased!

There was definitely something for everyone with a good supply of perennial favourites Autumn Crocus and Rhodanthe, and a wide range of other patterns such as Brookfields, Aurea, Ravel, Latona Flowerheads, Chalet, Nuage, Nasturtium, Bermuda, Delecia Citrus/Pansies, etc. Interestingly, two former pieces from the Barry Jones collection in the Marlow pattern proved the theory that “rare” doesn’t always mean “highly desirable”.

It was a joy to see the Appliqué Idyll pattern in the form of a pair of shape 331 squat candlesticks (£340), the Mango Café-au-Lait apples shape preserve pot (£320), and a small 5” high fluted edged comport in the Sunrise pattern (£300).

Conical sifter prices were good for the buyers – Secrets at £580, the two Rhodanthe ones sold at £270 each, Pine Grove at £360, Green Hydrangea (restored) at £220, but the best one of all – the Pastel Melon (estimated at £900-1200) failed to find a new home. Preserve pots, with and without lids, were very much in evidence at fairly routine prices. One exception was the Blue Autumn cylindrical pot with an adjoining saucer and EPNS cover which reached £380. The House and Bridge cylindrical preserve pot was a bargain at £320?! Other items worthy of note were the Canterbury Bells 362 vase at £440 ~ a bargain price for the buyer considering the shape and size, an Aurea 11” high pitcher fetched £400, an Autumn Crocus Conical coffee Pot and cover £440, and an Appliqué Palermo bowl at £480.

All in all, David Hare and the team at Gardiner & Houlgate are working hard to raise their profile via the Clarice Cliff and Decorative Arts twice-yearly sales. Cliff items occupied the first 200 of the 570 lot sale (Poole, Shelley, Susie Cooper, Charlotte Rhead, Whitefriars Glass all featured later) and once again they have further enhanced the overall style of their catalogue in both lots AND appearance, competing well with the “bigger fish” in London. And how wonderful NOT to have to constantly flick back and forth the catalogue pages trying to “marry up” the lot number listing with the photograph of the same!

Gardiner & Houlgate’s next Clarice Cliff sale is on Friday 1st October at 11am. The closing date for entries is 3rd September (01225 812912).

Please note: All prices quoted are hammer prices. Commission is 15 per cent plus VAT

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com, where you get more News, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club - founded in 1982!

Posted Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 13:20 GMT by adhutton:

The Sydney Morning Herald devoted a full page to CC on March 3rd. Called 'Bizarre in Demand', local collector and long-term CCCC member Sally Southcombe spoke of her hobby, and George & Sue Walters of Decodownunder were also featured.

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com, where you get more News, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club - founded in 1982!

Posted Tuesday, November 18, 2003 - 18:47 GMT by adhutton:

Auckland, New Zealand Auction House Dunbar Sloane auctioned over 240 lots of Clarice Cliff including part of the Van Hessen collection on November 4th

Some of the collection had previously been displayed in the Princessehof Museum in the Netherlands and some collectors may have copies of its accompanying catalogue. The bulk of their Clarice had been purchased in NZ and Australia over the last 30 years, and because Lex and Hannie Van Hessen are moving into smaller premises they decided to sell two thirds of it, with one half in this sale, and the other half retained for a sale at the same venue next year.

The sale was successful, with most of the collection being sold, and only a few outside lots failing to reach their somewhat high reserves.
Prices quoted are NZ hammer prices with approx. conversion to GBP £'s including Buyers Premium in brackets.

A 10 inch Original Bizarre Isis made a very high $5000 (£2000) and an impressive 375 Archaic vase in Red Umbrellas made $4200(£1680).

The very nice but small Red Carpet 355 Vase made a solid $5800 (£2320) and a Latona Bouquet part coffee set seemed on the money at $4000 (£1600) whereas the same price seemed high for a 14 inch Flora Mask.

As in every sale, there were some bargains, and a 13" Persian Plaque seemed a good buy at $2500 (£1000), as did a Globe shape early morning set in Original Bizarre at $700 (£280). The good Sunray Duck Cruet was not displayed well in the catalogue, with the result that it sold very reasonably for $2000 (£800) and the Blue Firs Conical dredger was perhaps also not displayed to its best advantage and was a bargain at $1400 (£550)

All in all, a successful sale for the Van Hessens, with 95% of their items finding a buyer, and the results also showing that some patterns and shapes achieve quite different prices in different countries. The next sale is planned for somewhere in the first half of 2004. It seems to be similar in content to this sale, with a dozen or so Lotus Jugs, and a wide variety of patterns and shapes, including a Sunray Leaves 370 Globe Vase.

Report from : Sue & George Walters www.decodownunder.com

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com, where you get more News, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club - founded in 1982!

Posted Monday, October 13, 2003 - 18:30 GMT by adhutton:

Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury had an interesting piece in their 2nd September sale. An Appliqué Lucerne Miniature vase made £2100 (plus commission).

This was an amazing price for a piece just 2 inches high.



Read more about Clarice Cliff Miniature vases HERE.

Michael Jeffery tells us there are some good pieces in their 25th November sale: 01722 424505

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com, where you get more News, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club - founded in 1982!

Posted Thursday, September 25, 2003 - 18:33 GMT by adhutton:

Nottingham has been the home of the CCCC since 1982, so it was very fitting that the drama based on her life, written in 1991 by Peter Whelan, was staged here!

It is the story of Jessie Frost whose hand-painting work at a typical traditional Staffordshire potbank is noted by the art director Jim Rhys. He sets out to develop her skills, but his political beliefs and high ambition bring him into conflict in the small community.

The Bright & Bold Design was on from October 6th to 11th at the Lace Market Theatre in the Lace Market area

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com, where you get more News, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club - founded in 1982!

Posted Thursday, May 15, 2003 - 11:16 GMT by adhutton:

Amazingly, the 18 inch May Avenue)charger at their 14 May sale, went VERY much over its £10,000 to £15,000 estimate.

After lively bidding between a telephone bidder, and a man at the back of the room...

It sold to the anonymous bidder for a hammer price of £34,000!!

With commission that is £39,950 (US$64,200/ €55,810)

The previous record was held by an Applique Windmill plaque at Bonhams which made £18,000 hammer....

The Clarice Cliff MAGIC.. continues...

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com, where you get more News, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club - founded in 1982!

Posted Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 23:14 GMT by adhutton:

A major feature was shown by BBC West Midlands on “Inside Out” on Monday 3 March. Filmed over several months it featured footage of Rene Dale hand-painting, a Clarice auction, author Leonard Griffin and Andrew Muir’s vast stall at the NEC Birmingham.

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com, where you get more News, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club!

Posted Friday, November 22, 2002 - 18:13 GMT by adhutton:

Christies Bounces Back!

After the most difficult year in the antiques world for over a decade, the sale of all Clarice Cliff pottery on November 20th was significant. It was a very watched one in the antiques and collectable world, as other parts of the ceramic market have suffered since September 11th 2001.

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.

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 value 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 shows 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 collectors 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 shows 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?

Full Christie’s results are available here:

HERE

Posted Sunday, September 08, 2002 - 21:52 GMT by adhutton:

A major London collector who has been a member of the CCCC for 15 years was surprised to find himself ‘caught out’ by a piece of fake Clarice Cliff recently. He was concerned as he realised that if it fooled him it could easily fool others.

The fakes are 12 inch Lotus shape jugs in Original Bizarre . Both the vase and decoration both are contemporary, and intentionally made to deceive.

The ‘weight‘ is right but the handle has a ‘blow hole’ at the bottom, a sign it is hollow cast, whereas Clarice’s handles were solid. The quality of honeyglaze is not quite right, but the colours are. These are orange and blue banding with triangles in brown, blue, yellow, and orange. The outlining on this example was in green.

This piece was bought early one wet morning on Bermondsey Market in London, but the source of these fakes is believed to be Ireland. The collector further knows of a dealer in Hungerford who had brought one for £350. As it is marked Bizarre by Clarice Clarice it is illegal to re-sell the pieces.

Clarice Cliff Collectors Club fine detail note: the fake jug is also ribbed, the original version of this shape had a smoother surface, so Lotus jugs in Original Bizarre (which is nearly all from 1927 to 1929) should nearly always be on the smooth surface jugs. Also, be suspicious of any Original Bizarre Lotus being offered for less than £700.

We will add a photograph of this piece to our site soon.

Posted Saturday, May 04, 2002 - 19:32 GMT by adhutton:

The first major CC sale of 2002 saw record prices, mixed with bargains and some surprise unsold items at the South Kensington auction room

The sale started with a 'bang' when a Red Roofs dredger made an astounding £3995, then, the rare Appliqué Blue Lugano charger made £12,925. In contrast, in Lotus jugs quite a few good examples remained unsold, and Red Autumn on an Isis vase was a bargain at £3525 and a REAL bargain at £1880 on a 12 inch Lotus jug.

There were quite a few bargains, and lots of Cafe au Lait ware largely remained unsold, and collectors mainly ignored restored or damaged pieces.

Other surprises included an amazing £2937 for the very small Spanish lady wallmask, a RECORD £6462 paid for the six inch high Appliqué Lucerne shape 187 vase, and a record £11,162 for a Sunray Conical teaset.

The trends in prices and collectability this sale marked are most interesting and were be analysed in detail in the sale report and analysis sent to CCCC members in May.

For a list of sale results see:

http://www.claricecliff.com/christies/May2002/index.htm

Posted Thursday, March 07, 2002 - 10:45 GMT by adhutton:

Christie's, South Kensington invited club members to an exclusive Celebratory Social on April 30th. The event included a chance to see an illustrated lecture by Peter Wentworth Sheilds & Kay Johnson, authors of the 1976 L’Odeon book.

The launch of the Clarice Cliff Collectors Club 20th Anniversary poster was at the event and it is now offered on our Age of Jazz store

http://www.ageofjazz.com

Posted Monday, November 19, 2001 - 18:33 GMT by adhutton:

AGAIN New Zealand leads the way in finding rare Clarice Cliff pieces!

In Christchurch McCrostie's Auction House sold what they thought was a 'Clarice Cliff Bizarre Ring Tray'. It was actually the previously unseen SMALL Lido Lady Ashtray, under three inches high! CLICK HERE to see some pictures.

It sold for $6700NZ plus 11.25% commission ~ a total of £2190 !

A local collector, who was the underbidder, told us of this: 'I gained the info I needed from your claricecliff.com website to make the decision to bid this high. I think I let a bargain go ~ knowledge is power'.

Now that ONE has appeared, another is bound to.. but in which country?

You do not need to spend £2190 to get your own Lido Lady as completely hand-painted Wedgwood reproductions of the large size are available from our store on store.ageofjazz.com.

Posted Friday, November 02, 2001 - 09:33 GMT by adhutton:

In New Zealand, Dunbar Sloane had a 'Liner' vase (shape 469) in Rudyard in their auction on 14/15th November 2001.

This piece was expected to attract considerable attention from both New Zealand and overseas buyers, and it has just sold for a STUNNING NZ$48,000 ~ about £14,000 ~ equalling the price of an 'original paintwork' 469 sold at Philips London earlier this year!!

Posted Thursday, August 02, 2001 - 15:27 GMT by adhutton:

The August edition of 'Collect It' featured a three page article reviewing the changes in Clarice collecting over two decades. Written by Leonard Griffin of the Clarice Cliff Collectors Club it covered original pieces, the hand-painted Wedgwood ware from 1992, and also the printed pieces. Illustrations included the new CCCC / Wedgwood 2001 Collection.

Leonard notes that high prices since Centenary year have NOT caused many collectors to part with pieces, and he summed up the current market situation thus: 'collector confidence in Clarice Cliff is so strong they do not sell.' He predicts that 'Whatever happens, expect more Clarice Cliff 'fireworks' she has not disapointed us once in 20 years!'

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com, where you get more News, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club. Watch for our NEW Clarice Cliff and more Store on Age of Jazz.com. opening VERY soon!

Posted Saturday, May 26, 2001 - 16:00 GMT by adhutton:

The May 25th Clarice Cliff sale at Christie's, South Kensington, London, saw two vases break world Record prices !

The Tennis 369 was sold for a hammer price of £11,000, and the 6 inch Green House 265 vase made an amazing £6000.

Watch out for a full results list and report soon here on www.claricecliff.com

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com, where you get more news, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club

Posted Tuesday, April 17, 2001 - 16:16 GMT by adhutton:

The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club has held its first Nottingham event! It was held at Waterstone’s in Bridlesmith Gate and was a special ‘Book Launch and Lecture’ for the paperback issue of Fantastic Flowers of Clarice Cliff and Clarice Cliff the Art of Bizarre.

The illustrated lecture, question time and signing session by author Leonard Griffin was held on Wednesday May 23rd and 70 enthusiasts attended, including local club members.

As well as free posters and cards, visitors were able to handle pottery shards dug from the Newport Pottery tip in 1984 by Leonard Griffin, and attempt to identify the patterns and shapes!

Leonard Griffin is appearing at another Nottingham event in June (see above)

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com where you get more news, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club

Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 11:58 GMT by adhutton:

The major sale of Clarice Cliff by Percy’s Of Hawkes Bay, Napier, led to some interesting results. The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club is delighted to give highlights here, or e-mail percysofhb@xtra.co.nz if you need full details.

Percy’s commented that ‘the sale went well, with top items reaching top prices and more average items not doing so well.’ There certainly seemed to be some ‘bargains’ but these were really only for New Zealand collectors as once shipping and import duties were added to the more ‘reasonable’ pieces they would have ended up costing collectors in other parts of the world, much the same.

All $ prices are New Zealand Dollars, and we have converted these to Sterling at the 3.49 exchange rate.

All results need the 10% buyers premium adding

Appliqué Lugano 10 inch Lotus sold for $25000 (£7163)

Marguerite teaset sold for $1600 (£458)

Daffodil shape Nasturtium teaset sold for $4600 (£1,318)

Farmhouse vase, shape 356 sold for $3600 (£1,031)

Bonjour Coral Firs sugar dredger sold $1600 (£458)

Athens Tree and House tazza sold for $1200 (£343)

Gardenia tazza with red banding sold for $1100 (£315)

Bizarre Biarritz Blue Firs plate sold for $1200 (£343)

Sunray Leaves tea set sold for $ 2700 (£773)

Isis jug in Amberose vase sold for $1150 (£329)


Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com where you get more news, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club

Posted Saturday, March 03, 2001 - 00:12 GMT by adhutton:

ANOTHER Clarice Cliff APPLIQUE WORLD RECORD!!

The bidding on the amazing Appliqué Lucerne plaque on eBay had reached $14,195 US by February 25th when well-known London dealers Banana Dance bids this amount. Then, on February 26th a new name on eBay 'ClariceMafia' bid $16,000!

The bidding then went quiet until the last 12 minutes before the item closed on March 2nd. There was then a bidding battle between ClariceMafia and a bidder with a South African e-mail address. This saw quick successive bids, between $17,000 and the winning top bid of $19,100 by Clarice Mafia!

This amount translates into a HUGE increase on the previous world record for a 13" CC plaque.

To save future disagreement, we have converted it to the amount it equals in the major CC collecting countries in the world.

In Britain it would have cost you £13,019, in Australia AU$ 36,037, in New Zealand NZ$43,868, $CA 20,105 in Canada, or if the South African bidder had been successful, they would have to have paid an amazing 147,639 South African Rand!

Whether we will ever find out who 'ClariceMafia' are, remains to be seen....

www.Claricecliff.com has the exclusive INSIDE story of the plaque from both the owner and vendors on our front page under 'Features'.

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com where you get more news, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club

Posted Friday, March 02, 2001 - 16:11 GMT by adhutton:

The Yorkshire Post colour magazine had an impressive 2 page feature in its February 17-24 edition.

Sharon Dale wrote that Clarice is 'wowing a new generation of fans'. The article had a full set of original Age of Jazz figures pictured, and long-term Yorkshire Clarice devotee Muir Hewitt with his stunning Autumn 18 inch charger. He commented, 'There's no doubt she was an inspiration to many other designers.'

Sharon commented 'Her own story was shocking for a time when girls like her were expected to know their place.'

Keep an eye on this News page of claricecliff.com where you get more news, and accurate CC News FIRST from The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club

Posted Monday, January 29, 2001 - 22:55 GMT by adhutton:

The February edition of the 'Collections' magazine had an extensive 5 page feature on the history of CC reproductions written by Leonard Griffin.

It showed selections of the Wedgwood printed/painted pieces, and also the C.C.C.C. hand-painted ware, including the first chance to see the Biarritz Applique Lucerne plate to be issued this year.

Posted Saturday, December 09, 2000 - 11:04 GMT by adhutton:

The BBC Radio 4 Clarice Cliff drama was the 'Programme of the Week' for December 9th to 15th, and had the lead feature on the Radio page in the Radio Times magazine.

It was on daily at 10.45am, repeated at 7.45 pm and so there was 150 minutes about CC in one week on Radio 4 !

The magazine feature written by Sue Galsford to introduce the drama was well-written and introduced Clarice’s unique life and talents to thousands more people.

The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club was delighted to be consulted about the Drama, and this included us arranging for the writer and producer to meet Alice Andrews, Phyllis Tharme, Jim Hall, and Rene Dale.

Reviews of the drama , written by C.C.C.C. members, and the Bizarre 'girls' will be in the club's February Review.

Andrew Hutton

Posted Tuesday, November 28, 2000 - 14:27 GMT by adhutton:

On Tuesday November 28th at 1.55 in the afternoon (GMT), our Clarice Cliff Website had its ONE HUNDRED THOUSANDTH VISIT!

Thank you for your ardent support of claricecliff.com

Congratulations to Webmaster Andrew Hutton for the hundreds of hours he has devoted to making it the best Clarice Cliff site on the Web! Leonard Griffin The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club

Posted Saturday, August 19, 2000 - 23:13 GMT by adhutton:

The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club exclusively revealed that one of Clarice's original paintresses, now 85 years of age, was to visit a CC collector in South Africa.

The story is a surprising one, which came about when a C.C.C.C. member from South Africa visited Britain for the Convention 2000 in June

Posted Thursday, August 17, 2000 - 19:18 GMT by adhutton:

I was very sad to hear that Eric Grindley died on July 30th. I first met Eric back in 1983. His engaging personality, and faultless memory for his work from 1932 onwards with Clarice and Colley, meant he contributed endless facts, figures and anecdotes to firstly the CCCC 'Review', and later my books.

As well as numerous visits to his home, I assailed him regularly on the telephone, most memorably when I rang to ask what the registration had been on Clarice's 1935 Austin. Within a few seconds he recalled it, to the delight of the soldier who had bought it, who had been asked by the Commander in Chief of his regiment to research its history. That person was Her Majesty the Queen Mother!

Eric joined us on our coach tours of the Potteries at the Convention, and with the mic in hand related stories about buildings and potbanks long gone, or identified shards down at the canalside.

He was most delighted to receive the CC books as they appeared, and fittingly is pictured on page 36 of 'Art of Bizarre', which includes many of his anecdotes.

Eric's son Paul was very proud of his father's links with Clarice, and wrote and told me that recently his 9 year old son studied Clarice Cliff in history and art at school, and was able to tell stories told to him by his grandfather!

Eric and Vera celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary shortly before Eric's death. On behalf of myself and all club members who met him and admired Eric's great enthusiasm and warm personality, even during his long illness, our condolences go to Vera and Paul.

He will be greatly missed.

Leonard Griffin The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club

Posted Thursday, June 22, 2000 - 17:24 GMT by adhutton:

Members and guests enjoyed a busy weekend at the The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club Convention 2000 at Stoke-on-Trent between June 23 and 25.

As they have done since 1987 Clarice's original paintresses the Bizarre 'girls' came along for their annual re-union. Members were delighted to meet paintresses Ethel Barrow, Alice Andrews, Annie Beresford, May Booth, Rene Dale, Doris Johnson, Jessie MacKenzie, Elsie Nixon and Phyllis Tharme, and Jim Hall a Newport Pottery kiln fireman. Alice celebrates her 85th birthday in July and was presented with a bouquet by Doris.

Fittingly Convention'2000 had a new format for the new Millennium, which included a demonstration of eBay.co.uk on the internet and claricecliff.com. Speakers included long-term collector David on teapots, and Kathy from Australia on collecting 12,000 miles away from where the pottery was made.

Members were also treated to the premier of Terry Abbott's Clarice's Centenary Film'. This included footage of 'Clarice' walking on the 'Newport' site, cleverly created using his wife as Clarice!

Deborah Dean who won a Silver Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show put on a display of her Summerhouse-inspired garden. In the afternoon members had a private view of the pattern and Archive books and Len Griffin, club chairman, discovered another new design name hidden in the records!

With a buffet on Friday night, and dinner on Saturday it was a full weeked, capped with a Potteries Tour on Sunday to the old Newport Pottery site, Clarice's birthplace in Tunstall and Gladstone Pottery Museum. The finale was a champagne toast on Clarice's lawn at Chetwynd House thanks to the owner Professor Flavia Swann. Members admired the hard work put into the garden as the flowers looked splendid.

Keep an eye on this page for NEWS of our next event!

Posted Wednesday, May 17, 2000 - 03:30 GMT by adhutton:

Bonhams held the first of their two CC sales this year on May 16th. Although a small sale compared to Christie's, some significant pieces attracted competitive bidding and yet more surprising prices!

A lot of six Orange House Conical coffee cans and
saucers (with damages) soared past a £1200-1800 estimate to sell for £3,000. A pair of Sunray coffee cans and saucers, again with damages, did almost as well to sell at £800

A good buy for one bidder was a Pebbles Octagonal bowl, which had no damage and sold for just £220. A Limberlost shape 475 Daffodil bowl also seemed reasonable at £420

It was obvious there would be interest in the lot in the rare and sought after Green House colourway, a Tankard coffee pot and cover, milk and sugar. Again, despite 'damages', it soared past its estimate of £1000-1500 to sell for £2,200

Clarice's 'icon' pieces, now recognisable by the majority of ceramic collectors, are of course the Age of Jazz series. Bonham's had secured a shape 433 dancing couple in orange - the one with the arms sticking up! A small chip to the footrim did not deter bidders and its £6-8000 estimate sank as it reached a hammer bid of £13,000 !!

Perhaps most surprising though was the price of lot 98, a Windbells shape 358 vase, predictably estimated at £6-900... it sold for a record (for the shape/pattern combined) of £3,000. When 8 inch vases in available patterns make this kind of price it makes one wonder what the rarities will cost? However, some items were left 'on the shelf'. The Orange Patina Tree Globe shape 370 was unsold: estimated at £7-900 it only got to £600 hammer.

The Blue Firs Viking boat and flower holder had minor
oxidisation, and did not show the pattern off to its best advantage, but this did not stop it selling for £3200! This is a record for a small-size Viking Boat in any pattern!!

I would have liked the lovely pair of Tennis shape 269 vases but estimated at £2500-3500 they made a high £4,200....

Applique pieces are always in demand, and Bonham's had secured a Palermo shape 374 vase and flower holder shape 383, with some damage. It shot past its £1800-£2200 estimate to sell for £4,800 hammer

I suppose we should not be surprised at these results but Clarice really does continue to amaze us... and with Christie's huge CC sale on May 26, and some real rarities, May will certainly be another significant month in the Clarice Cliff story. See you there !

Report courtesy of Doreen Mann

***ALL prices need Buyer's Premium (plus VAT on that) adding

Posted Friday, March 17, 2000 - 09:22 GMT by adhutton:

Clarice is again being honoured in Staffordshire as the University is to name a new building complex 'Clarice Cliff Court'.

This is the name for a large complex comprising of 297 student study bedrooms. These will be divided into 7 houses. Each house will be named after other local designers, including Charlotte Rhead, Millie Taplin, Susie Cooper and Jessie Tait. The C.C.C.C. and www.claricecliff.com have been consulted by the University about this since March 1999, and we are delighted to bring you first news, and will have more soon.

Posted Friday, March 10, 2000 - 00:06 GMT by adhutton:

STOLEN : A robbery from a private home in Essex on Wednesday March 8th 2000 led to these pieces being stolen. The collector asks for your help and vigilance in trying to find them for him. If you see any of the pieces, please call the Investigating Officer, D.C. Lewis, on 01376 551312 ext 63436


Farmhouse Isis vase
Trees & House Lotus jug
Autumn tea pot, Globe shape
Orange secrets 310 candle holder
Windbells coronet jug
Nastutium Bon Jour preserve pot & cover
Melon Tankard shape cream jug
Melon Tankard shape sugar bowl
Orange Erin plate, circular, 9 inch
Forest Glen plate, circular, 9 inch
Mondrian Tankard shape cream jug
Gayday Conical sugar dredger


ENDS

Posted Saturday, February 26, 2000 - 13:01 GMT by adhutton:

The sale of 'The Barry Jones Collection' at Christie's on February 25th saw MANY record prices broken.

Here are just a few of the surprising results, which all need 15% buyer's premium and vat adding.

Lot 57 'Orange House' plate £1900; Lot 38 'Bridgwater' Biarritz plate £2000; Lot 91 'Original Bizarre' Lotus in blue/yellow/orange £1800; Lot 94 'Bowling' Isis (restored) £3500; Lot 102 'Farmhouse' Lotus £4500; Lot 105 'Orange Roof Cottage' Lotus £7500; Lot 108 'Beach Ball' Lotus £7000

Lot 215 Bizarre 'Cat' figure (poorly ear) £2800

Lot 222 Age of Jazz figurine £13,500 (to a British couple who have only started collecting recently!)

Lot 226 'Appliqué Lucerne' octagonal plate £6000; Lot 230 Appliqué Avignon octagonal plate £5000

And perhaps most amazingly, lot 205 the 'Lido Lady' in 'Blue Chintz' trousers, made an astounding £6500, the most ever paid for a Clarice Cliff modelled figurine.

Clarice continues to amaze us!

Posted Tuesday, February 22, 2000 - 15:41 GMT by adhutton:

At last the amazing story of Clarice Cliff's life and work is being dramatised. We have long anticipated that radio or television would be drawn to her story, and it is now happening.

We are honoured to be able to announce EXCLUSIVELY, that in the Autumn BBC Radio 4 is to broadcast a 75 minute drama. It will be serialised in 15 minute episodes over 5 days, on Woman's Hour in the morning, and repeated at night.

The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club and claricecliff.com are acting as consultants for this. We can reveal that the producer and writer wil be meeting some Bizarre 'girls' in Stoke on Trent to ensure the drama is accurate and reflects Clarice's Staffordshire roots. The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club archive,including all of Clarice's original letters, will be used as source material.

claricecliff.com will bring you picture stories about the development of this important play in the coming months, and previews about it nearer the time.

Posted Sunday, February 06, 2000 - 19:58 GMT by adhutton:

Well… almost…. Actually at the New York Ceramics Fair (near Broadway) on Fifth Avenue, New York City! Len was invited to speak on both Clarice and Keith Murray at this major event at The National Academy of Design. The Clarice talk was January 22nd and the Keith Murray on January 23rd. It was a great start to 2000 for Clarice in the States, and attendance was high despite below freezing temperatures! Banana Dance, who many of you will know, stood at the event between January 20th and 23rd with a stunning display of Clarice, and also Chintz, Carltonware and Shelley. Keep checking this page for more Overseas CC News!

Further details of Caskey Lees events: www.artnet.com/artfairs/caskey2000.html

or in Britain call +44(0)192 685 5253

Posted Saturday, December 11, 1999 - 10:23 GMT by adhutton:

There is a great piece on Clarice Cliff for American and Canadian collectors in the December/January edition of Garden Design magazine. The article is by English writer Jane Brown, famous for her book, "Gardens of a Golden Afternoon," about the work of Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll. It has pictures from Art of Bizarre and Fantastic Flowers including the famous shot of Clarice under the archway of roses. This might look good framed if you have some Latona Red Roses in your collection?

Len

Posted Tuesday, November 16, 1999 - 10:44 GMT by adhutton:

Just a quick postscript to Centenary year, which you will all find interesting for a diverse number of reasons.......

In Melbourne, Australia, a Blue Lucerne Conical teaset has just sold for £15,000 (hammer).

apparently everyone in the room was cheering...

This is of course a new record both for the design, the shape, and for Clarice Cliff....

A most suitable way to end her Centenary year...!

Best wishes

LG The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club

Posted Tuesday, August 31, 1999 - 23:01 GMT by adhutton:

Janet, a teacher and member of The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club from Dartford, Kent in England, was delighted by the artwork her class at Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School produced in their Clarice Cliff project. So were we! Congratulations on those amazing shapes and colours we know Clarice would have loved them. The pupils also dreamt up some really Clarice style pattern names such as ‘Happy Day’, ‘Rainbow Heaven’,. ‘Mountain Fresh’, and ‘Windhill’! View a picture HERE.

We would love to see the work of any other classes doing Clarice Cliff Projects, just contact the ‘Doc’.

Posted Friday, July 09, 1999 - 22:05 GMT by adhutton:

The New York Times ran a Clarice Cliff article on 9th July entitled "Antiques: Jolly Pots in Hot Colors Are Back" By WENDY MOONAN, giving details of Phillips July CC auction and various other points of note. You can read the article on their Web-site -The New York Times on the Web. You will need to register to view the article (free to register). Once registered do a search for 'Clarice Cliff'. Unfortunately the article quotes this Web-site incorrectly, but otherwise is of interest to collectors. Enjoy.

Posted Tuesday, June 08, 1999 - 09:59 GMT by adhutton:

Pottey with Clarice Cliff marks added is starting to appear in various parts of London and the South East of England. The pottery is recent or modern earthenware bearing no resemblance to original shapes. The 'Clarice Cliff Newport Pottery' marks are in green applied on a plastic layer which can easily be scratched off, and there are also hand-painted 'C.C.' marks and 3 digit numbers. The man offering these to dealers in shops is in his fifties, has salt and pepper hair, is about five foot six tall and 'rough looking' with a 'common London accent'. He gave his name as 'Mr.Williamson'. Please BEWARE !

Posted Monday, April 26, 1999 - 10:52 GMT by adhutton:

The London Evening Standard has recently carried a couple of articles about Clarice and the numerous events happening around the country to mark her Centenary year. Click HERE to access their Web-site. Once you find the site simply key-in a search for 'Clarice Cliff' and you will get a list of the various articles. Enjoy !

Posted Monday, April 05, 1999 - 18:27 GMT by adhutton:

The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club has been informed that an article, including pictures, on Clarice will be in the May issue of the mainstream history magazine 'History Today'. The magazine will be available in late April in the UK; it will introduce CC and look at her as bringing modern art to the British suburbs.

Posted Thursday, March 25, 1999 - 23:31 GMT by adhutton:

Maureen and Harold, collectors from North Yorkshire, England have made an amazing discovery - a 1925 Clarice Cliff figurine which is thought to be one of Clarice's few surviving apprentice pieces. Whilst not being particularly 'Deco' it is an important piece and will feature in the Wedgwood Centenary Exhibition which opens in April. Click HERE to read more about this find. Many thanks to Maureen and Harold for sharing this with us.