Clarice Cliff

 

Clarice Cliff (20 January 1899 – 23 October 1972) was an English ceramic artist and designer. Active from 1922 to 1963, Cliff became the head of the Newport Pottery factory creative department.

Cliff was born on the terrace of a modest house in Meir Street on 20 January 1899. Her father, Harry Thomas Cliff, worked at an iron foundry in Tunstall. Her mother Ann (née Machin) washed clothes to supplement the family income. They had seven children

Cliff was sent to a different school than her siblings. After school, she would visit her aunt, who was a hand-painter She made papier-mâché models at school for a local pottery company.

Cliff chose not to follow the traditional path [of continuing to worki in the area of the task they had first mastered] instead she acquired many skills, such as modeling figurines and vases, gilding, keeping pattern books, and hand-painting ware. Hand-painting included outlining, enameling and banding (drawing radial bands on plates or vessels). In the early 1920s, decorating manager Jack Walker brought Cliff to the attention of one of the factory owners, Arthur Colley Austin Shorter. Shorter nurtured her skills in ceramics and gave her space to explore her own ideas. He was married, but later married Cliff after his wife died (Cliff and Shorter were married in December 1940). Over time, Cliff developed her skills and studied at the Royal College of Art and visited Paris.

Eventually, Cliff's wide range of skills was recognized, and in 1927 she was given a studio at the adjoining Newport Pottery, which Arthur Colley Austin Shorter had bought in 1920. Here, Cliff was allowed to decorate some of the old defective glost ware in her freehand patterns. She used on-glaze enamel colours for these, which enabled a brighter palette than underglaze colours.

From 1929 onward, the shapes took on a more 'Modern' influence. They were often angular and geometric, and some got, what was to be later termed Art Deco, designs

By 1929, Cliff's decorators had grown to a team of around 70 young painters. In 1930, Cliff was appointed as art director at Newport Pottery and A. J. Wilkinson, the two adjoining factories that produced her wares.

hrough the depths of the Great Depression Cliff's wares continued to sell in volume at what were high prices for the time Clarice Cliff's fame and success in the 1930s are hard to fully appreciate now, but at that time there was no such thing as 'career women'. The publicity she received in the national press was unprecedented.

During World War II only plain white pottery (utility ware) was permitted under wartime regulations, so Cliff assisted with management of the pottery but was not able to continue design work. 

A. J. Wilkinson and their Newport Pottery continued to sell ware under Cliff's name until 1964. The death of Colley Shorter in 1963 led Cliff to sell the factory to Midwinter in 1964 and she retired, becoming somewhat of a recluse. 

She died on 23 October 1972.

September 2009, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London opened its 'New Ceramics Galleries' and Cliff's work was chosen to be included.

Source: Wikipedia

A film of her life, titled The Colour Room and directed by Claire McCarthy, was released on 12 November 2021. Cliff is played by Phoebe Dynevor