Clarice Cliff Feature Articles

Q1.  Ian, you've been collecting CC pottery since 2004, how did Clarice Cliff make herself known to you?

A. I was looking for a wedding present and came across a Wedgwood vase in a geometric pattern (I can't remember which!)  That got me started............

Q2.  Judging from your flood of never-ending photographs, how many pieces have you got in your collection?

A. I don't know!  Too many!  I have eighteen tea or coffee sets, probably about thirty bowls and vases, and probably in excess of one hundred plates, plaques and chargers.  Then there's all the other bits and pieces!

Q3.  Which type of item do you like best.....vases, plates, tea sets, preserve pots or something completely different?

A. I have a big collection of plates because I have the original plate racks in my 1920's house, so they have to be filled!  They do show many patterns well, and good banding can really make a great piece.  As the numbers above might suggest, I also love coffee and tea sets!  Pattern wise there is no order or discipline in my collection.  I buy shapes and patterns that I love.  As I think you might have gathered, I love Latona, and my recently acquired Latona Dahlia complete tea for six is my pride and joy, although the Red Rose tea for six (without plates) and that Oranges & Lemons Charger are all up there.

Q4.  Where do you purchase your pots?  Do you still go to fairs, for example, are you deskbound to Ebay, or do you enjoy special relationships with selected dealers and auction houses?

A. A lot of my early purchases were on Ebay, but as we all know the majority of Ebay pieces have issues, many of which new collectors will not realise.  I've only bought one fake, on Ebay of course, but this plate is currently with Will and may make a star appearance on the Antiques Road Show! 

I was browsing through Andy's archives and counted ten items which are in my collection.  I have bought a lot more from Andy, and these are the amongst the top pieces in my collection which will stay when earlier purchases are moved on.  I have several items I bought from Paul including a couple of lovely tea and coffee sets.  I never mind paying a fair mark up for a dealer item.  I think it's a thankless task in many ways, and you pay for years of networking, travelling, talking, and hunting that I neither have the time or the knowledge to do myself!  Paul, good luck with the new job and creating the perfect home!  Andy, keep unearthing those wonderful items!

I have bought quite a lot at auction with many from Fieldings but also other respected auction houses.  One or two have come from dis-respected auction houses, but you get to know who they are!  I have also sold quite a lot through Fieldings, and Will has done a great job helping me to improve the quality in my collection.  A few pieces have come from other collectors but not too many. 

Q5.  How do you see your future collecting of Clarice Cliff pottery as you describe yourself as "an obsessed collector"?

A. I think it is not uncommon for the words 'obsessed' and 'collector' to be used together!  I now stick to buying criteria that ensures I only buy if it will enhance my collection.  It needs to be 10/10 or 9/10 at least.  When I'm thinking of buying, there's always a voice in my head saying "Is it 10/10?"  Good advice.

I will continue to sell earlier purchases which will ensure that the quality continues to improve, but what I also need to do is to display my pieces better.  This is where the loft conversion comes in!  My architect is lined up, and 2014 will be the Year of the Loft Conversion!  Watch this space..............

Q6.  I hear rumour that you own 'the only known damaged piece at Chetwynd' - the family home of Colley Shorter and Clarice Cliff after they were married?  Are you a secret friend or relative of the Cliff/Shorter families we have in our collectors midst?  Do tell....... 

A. As I DO have a piece which was damaged at Chetwynd, I can make this claim, and no one to date has challenged it!  This relates to a lovely little milk jug in an early Bizarre pattern which I took together with the matching sugar bowl to Chetwynd for the "show and tell" session on the wonderful charabanc CCCC tour a few years ago.  This was a wonderful weekend when we unveiled the plaques on Clarice's birthplace and family home, and on the flats which were built where Wilkinson factory used to be.  How Adam didn't fall off the ladder and into the canal whilst doing that I shall never know!

The weekend included a wonderful party at Chetwynd courtesy of Flavia Swann, the current owner.  This including a gathering in the front room around the wonderful inglenook fireplace above which John Butler had painted his Knight Errant.  We had a CC quiz, and given that Will was on the tour being filmed by the BBC I don't need to tell you who won the quiz with full marks!

Afterwards we all talked about what we had brought with us, and I had just finished my "show and tell" explaining how I loved these two pieces, which I had had shipped all the way from Canada.  One reason I loved them was that they were as pristine as the day they left the factory, and having finished put them back on the dresser where our pieces were displayed.  Next up was a lovely lady who had come all the way from ‘downunder’ and had brought with her a Japanese fake salt pot.  As she reached up to collect the pot from the shelf, it fell onto a piece below!  As I heard the crash, I just knew out of all the items on that dresser, it was going to be mine that had fallen victim to this unfortunate accident!  Poor dear lady, she was more upset than me!  I gave her a big hug, and told her not to do it again.

Terry took the bits home with him, and did a very good job of sticking it back together again, with some expert touch-up with the paint brush.  Thanks Terry, this piece now brings back happy memories of a great weekend.

Doreen Mann