Bizarre find: Huge Clarice Cliff collection unearthed in modest Margate home
28 January 2022 A sale at The Canterbury Auction Galleries on February 5-6 will give devotees of Clarice Cliff a treat. It includes a large collection of the famous Bizarre pottery amassed by a couple in their modest 1930s home in Margate.
Clarice Cliff Bizarre octagonal plate in the Applique Lucerne design – £300-400 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.
“I had no idea of the extent of the collection I was going to find when I visited the house,” said auctioneer Cliona Kilroy, “but the large picture window in the front of the property, which had been replaced with a colourful stained glass replica of a Clarice Cliff design hinted at what was inside".
Divided into around 100 lots, the collection of more than 400 pieces of Clarice is expected to sell for more than £20,000.
The most valuable single lot in the collection is expected to be a 46-piece dinner service decorated to typically geometric forms with the Coral Firs pattern, which is estimated at £2000-3000.
Clarice Cliff Biarritz Bizarre part dinner service of 46 pieces in the Coral Firs pattern – £2000-3000 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.
However, collectors with shallower pockets will find plenty of lots with modest estimates starting at £100.
It is believed that one of the first pieces ever created by Clarice for the Wilkinson pottery in Burslem was a comical model of a duck. This piece and its decoration in a bold palette of orange, yellow and green plays a key role in the Clarice Cliff story as told in the recent Sky Cinema costume drama The Colour Room.
Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor plays the role of pioneering ceramics designer as she struggles to make her way in the male-dominated world of the Staffordshire potteries.
The collection includes four of the comical ducks, one of them providing the centrepiece to a Crocus pattern egg cruet set. It is guided at £100-150.
This and other items from the Bizarre Girls are pictured below.
Clarice Cliff Bizarre duck egg cruet in the Crocus pattern and three duck models – £100-150 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.
Clarice Cliff Bizarre Hiawatha bowl in the Blue Firs pattern – £150-200 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.
Clarice Cliff Bizarre twin-handled lotus jug in the Crocus pattern – £150-200 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.
Pair of Clarice Cliff Bizarre Cottage bookends, shape 410 – £150-200 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.
Lido Lady, a Clarice Cliff Bizarre ashtray, shape no. 561 – £300-500 at Canterbury Auction Galleries
Clarice Cliff Lyton part coffee service in the Honeydew pattern and matching Athol cheese dish – £120-160 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.
Clarice Cliff Bonjour sugar sifter in the Windbells pattern – £150-200 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.
Clarice Cliff Fantasque vase, shape no.342 in the Sliced Melon pattern – £200-300 at Canterbury Auction Galleries.