Clarice Cliff - 1970 to 2008

In 1972, the first Clarice Cliff exhibition took place at Brighton, East Sussex, for which she provided comments for the catalogue. Later that year Clarice died suddenly at Chetwynd House. This exhibition marked the start of a major revival of interest in Clarice's work, which has continued to be sought after by Art Deco Ceramic collectors. Such was the interest that the Clarice Cliff Collectors Club was founded in 1982.

A chain of mergers eventually led to Wedgwood owning the Clarice Cliff name, and in the early 1990s they produced a range of reproductions of the highly sought 1930s Deco pieces. These were made to a high quality, and were produced in small numbers for sale to collectors who could not find (or perhaps could not afford) the most striking original pieces.

These hand painted collectors pieces ceased production in 2002 and are now acquiring significant values at auction. Other pieces were made in larger quantities with printed (not hand painted) patterns, and these are also starting to be sought at auction. 

These reproductions should not be confused with forgeries (of which a number are found), the Wedgwood ones are clearly marked as 'Wedgwood Clarice Cliff' and were produced by the current holder of the copyright.

1999 saw the centenary celebrations of Clarice's life and work. This featured the ‘Bizarre Art of Clarice Cliff’ exhibition at the Wedgwood Visitors Centre, Barlaston, near Stoke-on-Trent. This was linked to the centenary book 'Art of Bizarre' by Leonard Griffin (Chrysalis boooks). A biography by Lynn Knight was published in 2005.

In 2008 a new book 'The Best of Clarice Cliff' is to be published internationally. (publisher Best 50 Ltd)