Clarice Cliff Feature Articles
Q1. 2013 - Another year passes in the history of Clarice Cliff and her striking 20th century art pottery. As the world's leading dealer in Clarice Cliff, have you discovered any new patterns/shapes/colour-ways this year, hitherto unknown?
A. I suppose the obvious piece would be the giant May Avenue Tube vase, although that’s a known pattern on a rare but known shape. There’s a vase I’m trying to get for Olympia that is a new colour-way to one of the best patterns, or certainly one I’ve never seen. It will be a bit of a showstopper if it comes off! I’ve probably seen 3 patterns I’ve never seen before but none of any importance and finally I bought a Sunrise vase earlier this year which was a shape I have never seen before which now sits in John Humphreys’ collection (he won’t mind me saying). I also bought a ‘Blue’ Carpet 342 vase that is the second piece known in that colour-way.
Q2. Do you think there are still lots of Clarice Cliff items "out there" that we are not yet aware of?
A. There are definitely a lot of items we are not aware of. I get sent images regularly of which 90% are mundane. You get the odd good one and then every so often you get an amazing one - often from obscure places. I have just bought a piece from the middle of nowhere in South Africa, found on a farm, and it’s something I’ve not owned before although there are 3 others in different designs. The period of pieces turning up on the market from original owners has all but gone now and we are left with pieces that have been inherited of which there are a lot. Then, of course, all the pieces bought through the 1970’s in auctions - when you go the through the Sotheby’s Belgravia catalogues from those days and others in London that produced catalogues, there is so much of it that sold and we haven’t seen since. These pieces must be due to re-surface soon; in short there’s plenty still out there.
Q3. You send Clarice Cliff pottery all over the world to your customers ……….. who are her biggest fans?
A. Definitely the UK! 63% of my website hits are from the UK, Next are the USA and Australia who take up about 25% between them, then new Zealand and South Africa about 3% each; then others are random countries of which you never get a sale. The percentage of sales vary though and that is always dependant on currency exchange. The Aussie dollar has been great for them this last 4 years and they have bought a lot, when you think I was getting 2.7 dollars to the pound only a few years ago and at one point last year I was getting 1.3 – this of course made it impossible to buy over there but great to sell and they took up a big chunk of my business. Now the dollar is falling against the pound and they have slowed right down. The plus side is I can start to buy again over there if anything comes up. The same applies to the USA: if their dollar is below 1.50 they are less reticent to buy. Currently it’s about 1.67 and they are not really buying. Finally South Africa – the rand usually hovers around 12 to the pound, but at the moment it’s nearly 17 which is incredible, making it very expensive for them to buy but cheaper for me to buy over there. Unfortunately with the three main foreign buying currencies struggling it means I’ll lose a lot of business and it will be tough through this period. It’s okay buying the pottery but you’ve got to be able to sell it! The answer is that we should be booking holidays to either of those countries and making the most of it!!
Q4. Like other antiquities, the Clarice Cliff market constantly changes; how do you foresee Clarice Cliff's position in the marketplace in the future?
A. Good question and one I have to think about a lot. The truth is that the lower level market is saturated. Ebay has shown us how much of it there is and there’s too much! Prices for that type of pottery have steadily dropped over recent years and I don’t see it going anywhere. Obviously really well painted examples of good patterns on small shapes will always command a premium but not the average I don’t think. As for the top end it will always be okay - you can ALWAYS find somebody for a really good piece. With the public’s decorating tastes changing and the way interiors are going people are looking at statement pieces to stand alone in rooms and you can sell great pieces to those people even if they don’t collect Clarice Cliff! This is why I now only want to buy great pieces and really good smalls, the rest is a waste of time and I lose money. So the answer to that is: if you’re buying in the under £500 bracket make sure it’s a superbly painted piece of a nice pattern and unless it’s a rare pattern try and buy perfect pieces.
Q5. Finally, you must be the person who has seen the most Clarice Cliff pottery ever. Can you name THREE items/shapes/patterns you would like to discover the most?
A. Another great question….. For some reason and for as long as I can remember I have always wanted to find/own a Conical Tea for two or Conical Coffee set in Sliced Circle! That would be stunning! A Red Tree Lotus jug painted like the 365 vase I had last year would be an amazing stand alone piece and a full-sized single image Charger in Orange House would be a tough one to part with………..
I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support over the last year. We all need each other. You need me to find the pieces and keep the market strong and I need you to buy them. I may be a pain bidding on everything good that comes up and it may annoy each of you sometimes but overall I do keep this market active and strong by doing so which in turn helps to protect your own investments. It’s been an okay year for me in the end after an awful lot of hard work, probably as hard as it’s ever been. Olympia was of course a highlight but ‘One swallow does not make a summer’ and overall, it’s been tough. Next year I don’t foresee any difference but we all have to accept that and get on with it. For this business the recession is far from over, but I will be standing 20 fairs as usual which are listed on my site now. They are ‘in my blood’ and I enjoy them and especially enjoy chatting to those of you who attend. In fact I’m already looking forward to freezing Shepton Mallet in January! Olympia is tough to find time to talk as that first day is chaotic so please forgive me if we didn’t get chance to chat, I’m not or ever intentionally rude!
So I’ll take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and hopefully a Prosperous New Year. It’s a time when I get a few days to reflect and that’s something we all should do, find time for people, visit people we don’t get time to, go out with those friends that for some reason you never find enough time, and most importantly, relax and enjoy.
My son got back late a few nights ago from uni and that’s the four of us here now, plus the panto at the Birmingham Hippodrome (we’ve gone to the first showing every year since Jack was a baby) then Christmas officially starts!!
Doreen Mann
