Clarice Cliff Feature Articles
As you all know, I recently visited Fieldings Auctioneers Ltd. in Stourbridge, West Midlands, in preparation for the next set of catalogue notes for the Decades of Design and Clarice Cliff sale, to be held on Saturday, 27th April 2013.
It’s a visit I especially look forward to – it’s always a fascinating and interesting day spent with a small group of very pleasant, interesting people AND you get your very own private preview around dozens of shelves and tables stacked full of antiques in all classifications, shapes and sizes! All in aid of searching out many pieces of vibrant Clarice Cliff pottery…...it doesn’t get better than this!
After a number of “Ooohs” and “Aaahs” at certain newly discovered Clarice items, I walked past a very striking and beautifully painted dinner service in a very similar style to Clarice Cliff. Stacks of plates, oval serving dishes, and tureens in two sizes with their colourful serving spoons…….was it a Clarice Cliff pattern I had never seen before?
No. But upon instantly turning over a plate in true Potteries folk habit, a familiar name in red leapt out at me………Gladys Scarlett! An unforgettable name and the very FIRST paintress to assist Clarice Cliff with her brand new invention of ‘Bizarre-ware’ in 1927.
That same year Colley Shorter had transferred this hand-paintress from Wilkinsons to Newport Pottery in order to work under Clarice on her brand new ‘experimental’ ware. Gladys had had some training at art school, yet she was only sixteen when she joined Wilkinson’s the previous year. In a small studio Clarice began covering the old stock shapes in banding with bright colours which were simple to apply on a potter’s wheel. Then, she outlined patterns of triangles which Gladys filled in with orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple enamels. Gladys was encouraged by Clarice to exaggerate her brushstrokes so that the pots in various shapes and sizes looked hand-painted.
Gladys was a slim, blue-eyed blonde, who enjoyed making her own clothes – often in a vivid pink! A vivacious young woman, she thoroughly enjoyed going to dances at the local art college where she was well-known for her dazzling outfits. Colley Shorter, of whom it was said by his colleagues ‘had an eye for a pretty girl’, would visit Clarice’s studio everyday to see how ‘the experiment’ was going and as he entered he would say “Top of the morning girls” and occasionally take in bunches of flowers for the two of them. One day, when he called Gladys ‘his little girl in pink’ Clarice clearly disapproved.
It would be fair to say that there was obviously some rivalry between Gladys and Clarice at this time, as the former recalled many years later in conversation with author and Clarice Cliff expert Leonard Griffin. When Colley suggested she might also go to Kensington (where he had already enlisted Clarice to attend the prestigious Royal College of Art) Clarice objected. When Clarice started her course, Gladys worked on the ware alone, unsupervised. She was clearly a talented young paintress as she was the first to be chosen to join what would become the Bizarre Shop.
Generally, pottery manufacturers at this time only advertised their wares in trade journals; few advertised directly to the general public. Colley Shorter’s significant sales experience worldwide clearly gave him the opportunity to see first-hand some new promotional and marketing techniques employed in the USA, which in turn, he introduced in Britain. He was probably not the first to do this, but he did so most effectively and frequently. He began arranging in-store demonstrations using only the prettiest young paintresses to take part, and Gladys Scarlett was one such lady who regularly demonstrated her hand-painting techniques in department stores such as Waring & Gillow, and Lawleys in Regent Street, London. Nellie Harrison and Florrie Winkle also took part.
By 1932 some staff left. Phyllis Woodhead and May Keeling had painted Crocus for over two years, and were persuaded to join Richardson’s in Tunstall. However, this work lasted only briefly and May went on to work at Radford’s, with Phyllis later working for another female designer, Charlotte Rhead. Meanwhile, Gladys, who’d never really been happy working under her boss Clarice, felt she was not paid what she was really worth, joined John Steventon in Burslem. Her hand-painted designs were issued with a custom backstamp “Royal Venton Ware Hand Craft by Gladys Scarlett” but sadly after a couple of years it was discontinued. On lot number 674 here was the backstamp I now saw before me at Fieldings for the first time.
Doreen Mann
Editor
********P.S. On 27th April 2013 at Fieldings Auctioneers Stourbridge, lot no. 674 Gladys Scarlett's Royal Venton Ware 1930's dinner service sold for £140 plus 21% buyers premium (VAT inclusive).
PHOTOGRAPHS
1. At the Waring & Gillow demonstration, left to right Nellie Harrison, Florrie Winkle, with Gladys Scarlett and Clarice Cliff seated on the right. See p.42 The Art of Bizarre by Leonard Griffin.
2. Left to right, Ellen Browne (Inspiration ware) and Gladys Scarlett standing on the steps at the Russell Square Ladies Club, London, where they stayed when they were taking part in demonstrations in 1929. See p.26 The Bizarre Affair by Leonard Grifin and Louis & Susan Pear Meisel.
3. Gladys Scarlett pattern close-up (lot 674).
4. Dinnerware service by Gladys Scarlett (lot 674).
5. Royal Venton ware backstamp containing Gladys Scarlett’s name.
