Thoughts…

With many a golf fan wondering if any worse wind and rain can befall the Ryder Cup Tournament in South Wales, 'Cliffies' travelling from far and wide enjoyed a far sunnier journey to Stourbridge in the West Midlands, for Fieldings and CCCC Clarice Cliff sale No/6. For the first time it shared a catalogue with decorative arts and antiques from other periods in the 'Decades of Design and Clarice Cliff' sale. It was a 975-lot auction, and the Clarice blended in perfectly from lot 218 to 419.

The Clarice Cliff selection continues to be divided into the popular and established pattern of four distinct categories of landscapes, fruit and florals, geometrics/abstracts, and 'having a little fun with my work'. This time there was a private overseas collection of preserve pots in the ever popular Beehive and drum/covered honey form which collectors adore. The Beehive was designed by Cliff during the period 1924-26 and was an excellent seller until the late 'thirties. There was a wide and exceptional range of both shapes, many of which are rarely seen. Before the auction, several Cliffies had postulated that the Propeller drum preserve pot would be the runaway train....... in fact, it shared the top 8 position with a perfect Tennis drum/covered honey, and the Appliqué Lugano Conical Teapot, while the actual runaway train was the Zap Beehive at £720. The combination of good patterns and damage-free condition was fairly consistent throughout, and although some bidders felt the lids weren't always the perfect or correct match, this did not deter them from bidding.

A fuller sales report and observations will follow. Meanwhile, several longer term Cliffies commented that today's sale was very reminiscent of those great atmospheric auctions at Christies London South Kensington when there was a real buzz in the air, and the salerooms packed to the rafters. These auctions are remembered with much affection.

Around 120 plus were present at today's sale today with all seats taken and many more standing in groups at the back. There was a definite buzz - you couldn't help but notice it, and auctioneer/collector Will Farmer described the atmosphere as 'absolutely fantastic'. As auctioneer he kept up a cracking pace, and could do so because he was enjoying the auction so much and sensing the atmosphere himself; but this time he was experiencing it from the rostrum!

As you can see from the Top 10, it was the Blue Autumn dish-form 42cms Charger which topped the prices realised, perhaps with bidders feeling they would get more value for money size-wise than the Appliqué Red Tree vase.

There was much chatter amongst Cliffies after the Clarice section ended. Everyone seemed very happy whether they had been lucky or not in the sale. Many friends and acquaintances were renewed and I am delighted to say that several new faces , both young and old, seemed to enjoy the terrific atmosphere. This sale will be fondly remembered in the future. I think we can say that Fieldings has come of age.

Doreen Mann

Editor

The Clarice Cliff Top 10 at Fieldings/CCCC No. 6 today was:

1. lot 290 Blue Autumn dish-form charger £2,000

2. lot 397 Laughing Cat figure £1,600

3. lot 271 Orange House 342 Vase £880

4. lot 358 Inspiration Asters 342 Vase £840

5. lot 263 Red Roofs Cafe-au-lait Lotus £820

6. lot 308 Zap Beehive preserve pot £720

7. lot 257 Applique Blue Lucerne Drum preserve pot £660

8. lot 218 Applique Lugano Conical teapot £620

9. lot 299 Tennis Drum Preserve Pot £620

10.lot 306 Propeller Drum Preserve £620

If you have any queries or post-sale questions:

Will Farmer - Fieldings Auctioneers on: 01384 444140

or: will@fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk

Clarice Cliff Collectors Club Book Reviews Over the last 10 years the internet has led to great changes in the Clarice Cliff world, with auctions and collecting being re-invented, and re-invigorated. The ‘free-flow’ of information, whether it be academic or financial, on sites such as Wikipedia and eBay, has also greatly affected the actual printed versions; book sales have plummeted. But strangely, although most auctions now have free on-line catalogues, the printed versions still survive. Over the years many Cliffies have confessed that they keep their favourite Clarice books by the bedside as it’s an ideal time to absorb and learn. However, with over 20 books still readily available, new or second-hand via the internet, it’s a perplexing situation for newer collectors still seeking to ‘build a library’. Prices range from £5.99 to £55, and you cannot browse the content of a book on-line as you can in bookshops. This year we have had two new Clarice Cliff books added to the ever-growing pile, and below are reviews condensed from the full versions in our member's only Clarion. The books are by a Clarice Cliff collector Will Farmer of Fieldings Auctioneers and the BBC Antiques Roadshow, and Susie Cooper authority Andrew Casey. Doreen Mann reviewed Will Farmer’s book a few months back, and that follows the review below of the larger of the two books by Andrew Casey. ‘Clarice Cliff including patterns and price guides’ by Andrew Casey ‘You can’t judge a Clarice Cliff book by its cover’ The Clarice Cliff Collectors Club intended to review this new book earlier than this, but when members who had bought it wrote to us with some concerns, we realised that the only way to ensure our review was comprehensive and gave a fair appraisal, was for several of us to read it thoroughly and then produce a review. The initial impression is good - it's a hardback book, the cover image is pieces of Picasso Flower and Football photographed against black. The pages are packed with colour, but then we realised we've seen most of the pieces before (in old catalogues) and it became clear that the title is rather misleading. Although it is billed as ‘Clarice Cliff including patterns and price guides’, it has a scant 12 pages about Clarice Cliff, just one picture of her, and none of the factories, her promotions, her mentor Colley Shorter or her cherished paintresses. Instead there are 57 pages of prices, and 22 pages of shapes and patterns, and we recognised the pieces because they are mainly old auction catalogue illustrations. Generally the marketing of any book, its title and ‘billing’ is controlled by the publisher not the author. In using the word ‘including’ the publisher de-emphasised the fact it is primarily a price guide (these have only a short sales life) to increase its potential sales, but this is hardly helpful for newer collectors seeking in-depth information about Clarice’s life and work. As the 57 page ‘price guide’ forms the majority of the book it is pivotal on whether the book succeeds. However, it is a missed opportunity, as our webmaster Andrew Hutton immediately noted that the book was completed almost 2 years before it was published ! The most recent values given are from April and July 2008 but the majority of values are from more than 3 to 7 years ago, and largely based on sales at just two auction houses. Yet the author states, ‘the examples are taken from a number of sales rooms over the last 5 years’, but 90% are from just two provincial British auction houses less than 40 miles apart in the south of England. The inside cover ‘blurb’ (presumably written by the publisher) states, ‘prices realised for certain rare and less well-known items have exceeded £15,000’, but none of these are actually shown in the book. Our editor Doreen Mann noted that as the price guide ignores results from Christie’s, Bonhams, and other major British regional auction houses, so the prices quoted are not typical of the broader spectrum of sales. The book also completely ignores sales on world-wide internet auction sites so takes no account of the important North American, South African, Australian and New Zealand markets. It also does not include any prices from large British fairs. Our webmaster Andrew Hutton pointed out that though the book is called a ‘price guide’ it actually only lists 167 results, which cover under 100 patterns, so it has less information than just one auction catalogue from any of the 'Fieldings and Clarice Cliff Collectors Club' sales. Andrew Casey also ‘weights’ the prices and discusses the values ‘in today’s market’ but of course that means only up to 2008. Leonard Griffin felt it was unfortunate that the book is also inconsistent and inaccurate in its historical material and cataloguing. For example, in the brief biography chapter Andrew Casey states, that trade stands were ‘complemented from 1933 by the promotional horse called Bizooka’, yet ‘Bizarre Affair’ (listed in the book’s biography) proved that the Bizooka was created and used in 1931. The author states that the Fantasque range was ‘first launched in 1929’ (really September 1928), the Goldstone range was launched ‘in 1930’ (impossible as it was on shapes not issued until 1932-33). The author’s captions cause concern as it’s not made clear whether the dates given refer to shape or pattern; the 1932 Orange Autumn is dated to 1930, and the 1933 Windbells to 1929. Several patterns are not even catalogued; a vase is captioned just as ‘a rare Latona pattern’, but it was illustrated and named as ‘Latona Eden’ on page 103 of ‘Fantastic Flowers of Clarice Cliff’ in 1996, and Eden was also used in the Applique range so is not 'rare'. Doreen Mann spotted a glaring ‘triple error’ in the biography chapter. An archive picture which includes the ‘Girl’ candlestick is captioned as from ‘March 1925’, yet in the text on the facing page it is dated to ‘1923’ and next to that is a colour image of the same shape dated to ‘about 1930’ ! By this image Andrew Casey confusingly adds, ‘Cliff also modelled a candlestick in the form of a woman sitting on a cushion which was re-issued in the thirties’, even though the illustration is of the figure without the cushion. Leonard Griffin points out that he missed the salient fact - the archive image proves that the ‘Girl’ candlestick, which was part of Davenport ware in 1924, was remodelled the next year, 1925, minus the cushion! Previously it was thought Clarice did this about 1930. There are many examples of sloppy nomenclature; the author refers to Early Morning sets as ‘tea for two’ sets, and to Clarice’s original Crocus pattern, as ‘Autumn Crocus’, which true collectors know are terms not used by the factory. With reference to this Andrew Casey even includes a quote from Clarice Cliff herself which confirms the name: ‘one large department for the decorating of Crocus, Ravel etc,.’ Shapes decorated in the Apples pattern are captioned with that name throughout the text, but in the ‘resource file pattern names’ it is missing, and an erroneously bestowed name ‘New Fruit’ is listed, yet a few pages later ‘Apples’ returns in a listing of ‘Known patterns on Conical sugar sifters’. Even very recent facts are misquoted; the author acknowledges the Wedgwood Museum for their assistance, but manages to call the 1999 centenary exhibition ‘Clarice Cliff the Bizarre Affair’, rather than its correct title, ‘The Bizarre Art of Clarice Cliff’. The faults and errors with the book may perhaps be because Andrew Casey is not a Clarice Cliff collector but first and foremost a Susie Cooper collector, researcher and author? By his own confession he came late to discovering Clarice as he is quoted as saying, ‘I really enjoyed working on it as her life and pottery is such a fascinating story. As I researched I kept thinking, why didn’t Susie Cooper do a set like that or produce the same sort of fancies etc’. Whilst Andrew Casey says he 'researched' the book his bibliography makes it clear that this was confined to a very few Clarice Cliff publications; two of the three most recent books covering Clarice Cliff’s whole life and work, 'Art of Bizarre' and 'Fantastic Flowers', are ignored, as is the wealth of information in the Clarice Cliff Collectors Club Reviews published between 1982 and 2004. There are several other short chapters in the book, and one on ‘Top 20 patterns’ may raise a few eyebrows amongst Cliffies whose favourites are omitted; the only floral is Crocus. The chapter does not really discuss why the patterns merit being included, but typically has ‘the pattern was applied to’ followed by lists of shapes they are seen on. Most surprisingly, within this chapter the author repeats images just a few pages apart; a Stamford teapot on page 19, and a House and Bridge vase on page 28 are repeated on page 47, inexcusable given that both patterns are known from hundreds of examples. The book ‘fizzles out’ on a chapter about ‘Fakes’ which only shows TWO examples, again another missed opportunity given how many images are available of these on the internet. Overall the book fails for two simple reasons - it only briefly covers Clarice’s life and work, and the price guide is not up-to-date. Andrew Casey was awarded a gold medal by CILIP (the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) for his earlier book ‘20th Century Ceramic Designers’, which includes Clarice Cliff, and you might be better advised to purchase that than this new book which is basically a price guide of limited scope with a short shelf-life. If you have the old Woolley and Wallis, and Gardiner Houlgate sale catalogues you have most of the images already. We felt that the new book by Will Farmer not only contained many new photographs of ‘fresh to the market’ pieces, but also had more information and more accurate information, and therefore was the better buy of the two books; at just £5.99 it is also £10 less than the Andrew Casey book. You can see the review of it next. Newer Cliffies still buying books for their ‘Clarice Cliff library’, might be best advised to consult our member’s favourite Clarice books* as voted for on the Open Forum recently. ‘Clarice Cliff including patterns and price guides’ by Andrew Casey is published by the Antique Collectors Club at £17.95 (recommended price). Doreen Mann, Andrew Hutton, Leonard Griffin * 1. CC the Art of Bizarre 1999 (34%) 2. CC the Bizarre Affair 1988 (30.2%) 3. Best of CC 2008 (11.3%) 4. Clarice Cliff (the biography) 2005 (9.4%) 5. Taking Tea with CC 1996 (3.8%) 5. Rich Designs of CC 1995 (3.8%) 5. Comprehensively CC 2005 (3.8%) 8. Clarice Cliff (L'Odeon) 1976 (1.9%) 8. Fantastic Flowers of CC 1998 (1.9%) 10. CC for Collectors 2009 (0%) See the Open Forum for more on this __________________________ Will Farmer’s new book on Clarice Cliff Review by Clarice Cliff Collectors Club Editor Doreen Mann Will Farmer has given an excellent account of himself whilst dipping his toes into the world of book authors with his first publication ‘Clarice Cliff’ for Shire Library*. It contains 64 pages, is packed with superb photographs of a wide selection of Cliff’s wares, and is a good ‘carrying size’ – A5 – ideal for taking around the antique fairs and auctions when ‘Clarice hunting’. The Clarice Cliff story has been well documented over the years by several authors producing many books, notably by our Collectors Club founder, Leonard Griffin, who has researched endlessly and interviewed virtually all the Bizarre Girls, and Manager Eric Grindley, members of Clarice’s and Colley Shorter’s family, and trawled the Cliff/Newport/Wilkinson archives at Stoke on Trent Museum. Will has covered this aspect of Cliff in a fresh, précised yet interesting light, often getting us to take on board her influences in Art Deco, Modernism and Cubism styles. This is not a pretentious book full of ‘artistic’ comment; it is a comfortable and enjoyable read, backed-up by a tremendous amount of exhilarating photographs of which collectors seemingly cannot get enough. The accent of these is focussed on Clarice’s abstract and geometric wares along with many landscape patterns, and to a lesser degree, florals, in all price ranges. 'Clarice Cliff' by Will Farmer covers all the history of her Bizarre ware and what life was like before it, and shows quite eloquently in words and photographs the very essence of Clarice Cliff. Her bold colours and infinite variety of designs in all guises, from abstract to landscapes are now instantly recognizable the world over. More recently discovered designs are also well chosen and featured, and this is a timely reminder book that says “Clarice Cliff is here to stay”. Will Farmer’s book is published by Shire Publications, price £5.99). Another original story from the ORIGINAL Clarice Cliff Collectors Club ~ Celebrating 30 years in 2012 You can comment on this story in the Open Forum Or, just e-mail us : clarion@claricecliff.com Thank You Another original review from the CCCC You can comment on this story in the Open Forum Or, just e-mail us : clarion@claricecliff.com Thank You I M P O R T A N T The ORIGINAL Clarice Cliff Collectors Club ~ founded 1982. Registration of Business Names Act (number 2803197 registered 2 February 1982).