Clarice Cliff: why the Art Deco palette is the first signal
Clarice Cliff is the most recognisable name in British Art Deco pottery. The work she designed for A.J. Wilkinson at the Newport Pottery in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, between 1928 and the outbreak of war in 1939 used bright orange, yellow, green, blue and black on simple geometric shapes (conical sugar sifters, beehive honey pots, Lotus jugs, Stamford teapots, plates with angular rims). The colour palette and the angular shapes are the first signal a charity volunteer should learn to recognise: the rest of the British 1920s and 1930s pottery output is mostly pastel, mostly figurative, and mostly thrown rather than block-shaped.
The pieces are also small. A conical sugar sifter is roughly 13cm tall; a Bizarre side plate is 18cm across; a Lotus jug is roughly 30cm at the largest. The visual impression is that of a small bright object on a sorting table, easily missed in a bag of mixed pottery. The mark on the base, the hand-painting of the pattern, and the shape of the piece together identify a Cliff original from a later reproduction.
The Newport Pottery and the Wilkinson connection
Clarice Cliff was apprenticed at the Lingard, Webster and Co pottery from age 13, then moved to A.J. Wilkinson Ltd in Burslem in 1916. By the mid-1920s she was working as a senior decorator and had begun developing her own designs. In 1927 the Wilkinson firm acquired the adjacent Newport Pottery and gave Cliff a small team and a free hand to develop a new decorated range. The "Bizarre" range was launched in 1928 and was produced at the Newport Pottery, decorated by a team of decorators known informally as the "Bizarre Girls", with Cliff supervising design and quality.
The "Fantasque" sub-range followed in 1929 with similar palettes and more figurative landscape scenes (Trees and House, Red Roofs, Forest Glen). Both ranges ran in parallel through the 1930s, gradually merging in marketing by the late 1930s. Production scaled back at the outbreak of war in 1939 and the Bizarre name was effectively retired after 1941. Cliff continued with the Wilkinson firm in a less prominent role through the post-war decades but the period a charity shop is looking for is the 1928 to 1941 window.
Reading the base: the printed mark and the hand-painting
The base of a genuine Bizarre or Fantasque piece carries a multi-line printed mark in black ink. The exact wording shifts across the production years but the core elements are consistent:
- "Hand Painted" or "Hand Crafted" at the top of the mark in a small italic line.
- "Bizarre" (or "Fantasque") in a larger printed script, sometimes with the word "by" beneath.
- "Clarice Cliff" in a stylised printed signature, in some cases a facsimile of her own handwriting.
- "Newport Pottery England" or "Wilkinson Ltd. England" below the signature.
- A small printed pattern name (Crocus, Autumn, Trees and House, Sliced Fruit, Sunray, House and Bridge, Café-au-Lait, Honolulu) hand-added or sometimes printed.
- A small painted year code or decorator's mark in some periods.
The pattern name is the data point a volunteer most often needs to record. Specific patterns sit in very different indicative bands: a Crocus piece is the most common Bizarre pattern and the lower end of the range; a House and Bridge, a Trees and House, a Forest Glen or an early geometric (Sunburst, Sunray) sits in a substantially higher band. Photograph the printed mark and the hand-painted pattern name clearly.
The pattern landscape: Crocus, Autumn, Trees and House, Sliced Fruit
Bizarre and Fantasque patterns recur across shapes (the same Crocus pattern appears on a side plate, a conical sugar sifter and a Lotus jug). The pattern itself is the value driver alongside the shape. The recurring patterns most often seen in donations:
- Crocus (introduced 1928, the most produced Bizarre pattern), bands of stylised crocuses in purple, orange and yellow above and below a brown ground band. The most common pattern and the lower end of the indicative band.
- Autumn (Fantasque, late 1920s and 1930s), a stylised landscape with trees, a cottage and a path in autumnal browns, oranges and greens.
- Café-au-Lait (early 1930s), a stippled coffee-brown ground often combined with overpainted flowers or geometric panels.
- Trees and House and Red Roofs (Fantasque landscapes), stylised cottages and angular trees in bright colour panels; among the most-collected Cliff patterns.
- Sliced Fruit (1930s), stylised oranges, lemons or other fruit in cross-section panels.
- Sunburst, Sunray, Tennis, Diamonds, Original Bizarre (the early pure-geometric patterns of 1928 to 1930), highly stylised Art Deco geometrics; the upper end of the indicative band.
- Honolulu (early 1930s), stylised palm trees and bright sky panels.
- Forest Glen (mid-1930s landscape), a green-and-blue rural scene; consistently strong collector demand.
Early pure-geometric Bizarre patterns from 1928 to 1930 (Sunburst, Tennis, Original Bizarre) command the strongest premium because the production runs were short and the pieces are scarcer. The later Crocus and Café-au-Lait pieces are more common in donations because they were produced through the entire period in volume.
The shapes: conical, beehive, Lotus, Stamford
Cliff designed a small set of distinctive Art Deco shapes that recur across the Bizarre and Fantasque ranges. The shape itself is part of the identification. The recurring shapes a volunteer should learn to flag:
- Conical sugar sifter: a tall pointed cone with a perforated top, roughly 13cm tall, instantly recognisable.
- Conical sugar bowl and conical jug: shallower cones with triangular handles.
- Beehive honey pot: a small stepped dome with a bee finial.
- Lotus jug: a large cylindrical jug with a heavy base, often the canvas for the boldest patterns.
- Stamford teapot: a rectangular tapered teapot with an angular handle and spout.
- Bonjour shape: a small rounded teapot from the mid-1930s.
- Plates and side plates with angular rims rather than circular.
A conical sugar sifter in a Sunburst pattern with the Bizarre mark is one of the most collected combinations and sits in a high indicative band. The same Sunburst pattern on a plain side plate is still strong but at a lower figure. The shape and the pattern together drive the value rather than either alone.
Spotting a reproduction: Wedgwood-by-Clarice-Cliff and other licensed reissues
After the Wedgwood Group acquired the rights to the Clarice Cliff name in the 1990s, a series of licensed reissues was produced under the "Wedgwood by Clarice Cliff" mark. These are not forgeries; they are legitimate later production with the family's and the rights-holder's consent. The reissued pieces use modern body, modern glazes and modern printed marks, with the Cliff design reproduced on the original shapes. They are worth a fraction of the original Newport-period pieces and the base mark is the clearest distinction.
Three quick tests separate an original Newport-period Bizarre or Fantasque piece from a later licensed reissue:
- Look for the base mark. An original carries "Bizarre by Clarice Cliff" with "Newport Pottery England" or "Wilkinson Ltd. England". A reissue carries "Wedgwood" alongside the Clarice Cliff name and a modern country-of-origin mark.
- Look at the hand-painting. The Bizarre Girls hand-painted every piece with visible brush marks, slight variation in line weight, and the occasional smudge or correction. A modern reissue is typically transfer-printed and shows a flatter, more even surface with no visible brush marks.
- Look at the body and the glaze. An original piece has a slightly cream-toned earthenware body and a thin clear glaze that catches the light slightly unevenly. A modern reissue has a whiter modern body and a glassier, more even glaze.
A licensed reissue is still worth photographing and sending on WhatsApp; the indicative figure will be lower than for the original Newport-period piece but is usually still above the charity-shop shelf price.
Why a chipped Clarice Cliff is still worth posting
A Clarice Cliff piece almost a century old has often picked up a rim chip, a hairline crack, a glaze nick or a previous repair on a handle or a spout. The volunteer instinct is to discount heavily for damage and price the piece at a few pounds. The Cliff collector market accepts imperfect examples at a discount to perfect, especially for the scarcer patterns and shapes. A chipped Sunburst conical sugar sifter, a hair-lined Trees and House Lotus jug, a restored Bonjour teapot can all retain meaningful value because the maker premium does not disappear with cosmetic damage.
Photograph the damage clearly alongside the maker's marks and the pattern. The WhatsApp message should describe where the damage sits (rim, base, handle, spout) and whether the piece has been restored. The indicative figure already accounts for the described condition; the firm offer is set only after the piece is inspected against current auction comparables.
The photo workflow and the parcel route
- Set the Clarice Cliff piece aside in the back room before any pricing decision.
- Wipe loose dust gently with a dry cloth so the base mark is readable. Avoid hot water and scrubbing; some Bizarre-period hand-painted marks can lift under aggressive cleaning.
- Photograph the base in good light, with the printed Bizarre or Fantasque mark, the Newport Pottery or Wilkinson line, and any pattern name in clear focus.
- Photograph the front and the side of the piece, showing the full pattern and the shape.
- Photograph any damage (chips, hairlines, restoration) clearly.
- Send the photos to GoldPaid on WhatsApp (07375 071158) with a short note on the charity and the shop.
- The indicative response usually returns the same working day. If the indicative figure is accepted, GoldPaid sends a prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery label, up to £2,500 cover, higher available on request before posting.
- On arrival the piece is inspected against current auction comparables and a written offer is sent. Where the offer is accepted before 3pm UK time, payment is by Faster Payments to the charity's registered bank account the same business day.
- Free insured return of anything the charity chooses not to sell.
Common questions
How do I tell a Bizarre piece from a Fantasque piece?
The printed mark on the base usually says one or the other. Bizarre tends to use bolder geometric patterns and primary colours; Fantasque uses more figurative landscape and floral patterns with similar colour palettes. The two ranges ran in parallel and the value depends on the pattern, shape and condition rather than which range it sits in.
Are licensed Wedgwood-by-Clarice-Cliff reissues still worth flagging?
Yes, but at lower indicative figures than the original Newport-period pieces. The reissues are legitimate later production and still sit above a charity-shop shelf price for most patterns and shapes. Photograph the base mark and the side; the indicative figure will state which era the piece comes from.
What if the pattern name is not printed on the base, only the Bizarre mark?
Photograph the front, the side and the base clearly. Many genuine Bizarre pieces did not carry a printed pattern name and the pattern is identified from the painting itself. The full set of photos is enough for identification.
Is a Clarice Cliff piece with a rim chip still worth posting?
Yes. The collector market accepts imperfect examples at a discount to perfect, and a chipped genuine Bizarre piece in a scarce pattern still sits well above any charity-shop shelf price. Photograph the damage clearly so the indicative figure already accounts for it.
How are Bizarre and Fantasque pieces valued by GoldPaid?
Against recent comparable auction sales for the specific pattern, shape and condition. The written valuation report cites the comparables used (auction house, lot number, sale date, hammer) and states the GoldPaid offer as a percentage of comparable hammer. Indicative figures move with the market and the buyer pool; the firm offer is set only after the piece is inspected.
Is Clarice Cliff posted in the same parcel as other named pottery?
Yes, where the parcel size and weight allow it. Royal Mail Special Delivery cover is up to £2,500 and applies to the parcel as a whole; higher cover is available on request before posting. Fragile pieces are packed individually with bubble wrap and double-boxed; the WhatsApp conversation covers the packing approach before the label is sent.