camisetas tailandesas futbol - Early life
The Cliff family ancestors had moved to Tunstall from the Eccleshall area in about 1725. When Clarice was born their home was on Meir Street on a terrace of modest houses, but Tunstall was
camisetas tailandesas futbol actually a slightly better part of Stoke on Trent. Cliff's father Harry worked at the local iron foundry in Tunstall, her mother Ann took in washing to supplement the family income, and they had 7 children.
Cliff was sent to a different school to her siblings, and this perhaps prompted her more independent approach to her career, and her non-standard life style by Stoke on Trent standards. It is known that after school Cliff would visit aunts who were hand paintresses at a local pottery company, and she also made models from papier-mch at school.
The size of the family meant that in 1906 the Cliffs moved to a larger home on the adjoining Edward's Street, where, as the children left school (aged 13), they were able to augment the family income, so they never suffered the intense hardships that affected many in the Potteries due to the high unemployment.
Career
At the age of 13, Cliff started working in the pottery industry. Her first work was as a gilder, adding gold lines on ware of traditional design. Once she had mastered this she changed jobs to learn freehand painting at another potbank , at the same time studying art and sculpture at the Burslem School of Art in the evenings.
In 1916, Cliff made the rather unusual decision to move to factory of A. J. Wilkinson at Newport, Burslem, to improve her career opportunities. This necessitated a lengthy journey to work. This was an unusual start to an unusual career; most young women in the Staffordshire Potteries were on 'apprentice wages', and having mastered a particular task, stayed with that to maximise their income. However, Cliff was ambitious and acquired skills in modelling figurines and vases, gilding, keeping pattern books and hand painting ware: outlining, enamelling (filling in colours within the outline) and banding (the radial bands on plates or vessels). In the early 1920s her immediate boss Jack Walker brought Cliff to the attention to one of the two factory owners, Colley Shorter, who managed it with his brother Guy. Colley Shorter was 17 years older than Cliff, and as well as playing a major role in nurturing her skills and ideas, he was later to be her husband.
The first printed 'Bizarre' backstamp used on Clarice Cliff ware from 1928 to early 1936 in various styles.
Cliff was given a second apprenticeship at A. J. Wilkinson's in 1924 (when she was already 25 years old) primarily as a 'modeller' but she also worked with the factory designers John Butler and Fred Ridgway. They produced conservative, Victorian style ware - Butler had been the designer for over 20 years by this time. Eventually, Cliff's wide range of skills were recognised and in 1927 she was given her own studio at the adjoining Newport Pottery which Shorter had bought in 1920. Here Cliff was allowed to decorate some of the old defective 'glost' (white) ware in her own freehand patterns. For these she used on-glaze enamel colours, which enabled a brighter palette than underglaze colours.
She covered the imperfections in simple patterns of triangles, in a style that she called 'Bizarre'. The earliest examples had just a
camisetas tailandesas futbol hand-painted mark, usually in a rust coloured paint, 'Bizarre by Clarice Cliff', sometimes with 'Newport Pottery' underneath. To the surprise of the company's senior salesman Ewart Oakes, when he took a car load to a major stockist, it was immediately popular. Clarice was given a young paintress Gladys Scarlett to help her with the ware, and soon a more professional 'backstamp' was made, which carried Cliff's facsimile signature, and proclaimed Hand painted Bizarre by Clarice Cliff, Newport Pottery England.
Early 'Original Bizarre' pattern on an Athens shape jug
This backstamp was in fact to lead to Bizarre being used as an umbrella name for her entire pattern range, so that the factory then had to refer to the first pieces in the simple triangles as Original Bizarre.
In March 1927 Colley Shorter (who acted very independently of his brother guy), sent Cliff to the Royal College of Art in Kensington, London for two brief periods of study in March and May. These dates are recorded in the Royal College of Art archive and were also remembered by Gladys Scarlett (in 1982 ) as she was briefly left alone at Newport to paint the new 'Bizarre' ware.
'Ravel' pattern on Conical shape coffee pot, sugar and cream - 1930
From 1927 Cliff was actually credited for shapes she designed, such as her Viking Boat flower holder, though her modelling for the factory is recorded in trade journal as far back as 1923-24. The shapes from 1929 onwards took on a more 'Moderne' influence, often angular and geometric, and some are what was to be later termed Art Deco. Abstract and cubist patterns appeared on these shapes, such as the 1929 Ravel (seen on Cliff's Conical shape ware) which was an abstract leaf and flower pattern named after the composer. The image shows a Conical coffee pot, and sugar bowl and cream with four triangular feet, another of Cliff's rather Bizarre shape ideas which proved popular with 1930s customers. Ravel was to be produced between 1929 and at least as late as 1935.
In 1928 Clarice produced a simple but clever hand painted pattern of Crocus flowers in orange, blue and purple, each flower being constructed with confident upward strokes. Then, green leaves were added by holding the piece upside down, and doing thin lines amongst the flowers. Being made from the individual brushstrokes, the Crocus pattern was clearly completely hand-painted, and the vibrant colours instantly attracted large sales.
Crocus pattern 1928 to 1963
Initially, Clarice had just one young decorator produce Crocus, Ethel Barrow. But as orders flooded in by 1930 a separate decorating 'shop' was established underneath the top floor of the building which housed the 'Bizarre' shop, and Ethel became responsible for training young paintresses how to do the pattern. Twenty young women painted nothing but Crocus 5 1/2 days a week, for much of the 1930s. Crocus was unusual in that it was produced on both tableware, tea and coffeeware, and 'fancies', novelty items made primarily as gift ware. The pattern had many colour variations, including Purple Crocus (1932) Blue Crocus (1935), Sungleam Crocus (1935) Spring Crocus. It was even produced after the war, the final pieces with Clarice Cliff marks being made in 1963, though Midwinter (who bought the factory) continued to paint it to order until as late as 1968.
By 1929, Cliff's team of decorators had grown to a team of around 70 young painters, mainly women (called her 'Bizarre girls') but also four boys - who hand painted the ware under her direction. Many of these workers were traced in the 1980s and 1990s and they totalled over 100. Their names and work for Clarice Cliff was recorded in the centenary book.
Appliqu Lugano 1930
The factory produced a series of small colour printed leaflets (quite unusual for this time) which could be obtained by post, or picked up from stockists. This promotional device was clearly successful, as one young girl was employed whose only job was to put the leaflets in stamped addressed envelopes sent into the factory. At this time, many women would buy pottery by 'mail order' from advertising in magazines. The series of leaflets, each of which covered a range of pieces in a similar style or set of colours, included ones for Bizarre, Fantasque, Delecia, Appliqu, Inspiration, Crocus & Gayday and others. The original leaflet for the Appliqu patterns featured just two, Lucerne and Lugano , but Cliff's prolific ability to design new patterns is witnessed by the fact that by 1932 the Appliqu range had 14 patterns : with Avignon, Windmill, Red Tree, Idyll, Palermo, Blossom, Caravan, Bird of Paradise, Etna, Garden, Eden and Monsoon in addition to the original two. The Appliqu Lugano pattern is shown left on a 10-inch (250?mm) wall plaque, with (inset) the printed Bizarre mark, and a hand painted range name as often seen on this ware. Appliqu, with its more intense colouring, proved long term to be one of the most sought after Cliff ranges.
'Red Autumn' pattern 1930
The Fantasque range evolved between 1928 and 1934 and mainly featured abstracts or landscapes of cottages and trees, and some Art Deco inspired patterns. The first Fantasque landscape pattern was Trees and House and this sold well from 1930 until at least 1934. However, it was the slightly later, more sophisticated Autumn pattern issued near the end of 1930 which was to prove the most adaptable and popular. Originally created in red (coral) green and black in 1930, from 1931 many colourway variations appeared. The rarest remains the red colourway, shown on a 13-inch (330?mm) wall plaque, but the best selling version at the time was one with the trees in blue green and yellow. All these variations have proven particularly collectible.
In 1930, Cliff was appointed Art Director to Newport Pottery and A. J. Wilkinson, the two adjoining factories that produced her wares. Her work involved spending more time with the Colley Shorter, and this gradually developed into an affair, conducted in secrecy. The couple worked closely together on creating awareness of 'Bizarre ware' to catch the attention of buyers in the middle of a major financial depression, and with a skilful eye and great foresight, Colley Shorter registered Clarice's name and even some of her shapes. It was her ability to design both patterns and also the shapes they were to go on that distinguished Cliff above any
camisetas tailandesas futbol other designers in the Staffordshire Potteries at this time. Her first modelling in the mid 20s was of stylised figures, people, ducks, the floral embossed Davenport ware of 1925. But in 1929 at the same time as she started the colourful cubist and landscape designs, Cliff's modelling took on a new style. This was influenced by European originals by Dsny, Ttard Freres, Josef Hoffmann and others, that she had seen in design journals including 'Mobilier e Dcoration'.
