A charming 1920s Clarice Cliff Autumn Crocus toast rack for two with good, bright and bold paintwork. The underside is stamped "Hand painted Bizarre by Clarice Cliff Wilkinson Ltd England".

History

Clarice Cliff (1899 – 1972) is one of the most renowned and accomplished ceramic designers of the twentieth century, and her ground-breaking Bizarre ware created from late 1927 through to the mid-to-late 1930s has - quite understandably - achieved worldwide recognition. Born in Tunstall, Stoke On Trent, UK, the heart of The Potteries, the ambitious Clarice Cliff worked her way up from modelling, gilding, outlining and enamelling in various ceramic producing factories until she became art director at A J Wilkinson, aged 30; unheard of, and a first, a women - not a man - in such a senior position and in a highly prestigious firm.

Clarice was then given her own studio at the adjoining Newport Pottery, where she experimented with on-glaze enamel colours on factory seconds that had imperfections. Her Original Bizarre patterns were based around triangles, big and bold, which hid any defects to the bodies of the ceramics, and, more importantly, because they trail-blazed the new modern jazz-age look, which other UK potteries had failed to embrace, they proved to be an instant success. Clarice then developed her own ground-breaking modern shapes (that we now call Art Deco) to tie in with a vast range of her newly designed patterns, from stylised landscapes and florals to bold cubist, geometric and abstract designs that she developed from 1928 – and to stunning effect. It is no wonder that her work is so fervently sought after, and has been since the 1970s. It’s full of such joy, such style and such fun - and nothing then or since can compete with its unparalleled uniqueness.

Crocus

In 1928 Clarice produced her signature and best-loved design, Autumn Crocus. A simple, joyous, hand-painted pattern of crocus flowers in vibrant orange, blue and purple. Each flower was composed by using upward brush strokes while holding the piece upside down; the thin lined leaves were then added among the flowers. Yellow banding above and brown below, to denote the sun and earth, was added to vases, bowls, and tea wares to ‘frame’ the flowers. Such a clever pattern design, the flowers could be clumped or applied sparingly to elegantly fit every shape imaginable. This took place in the Bizarre shop, where paintresses - the Bizarre Girls - were trained on how to execute the pattern: each decorator applying just one petal colour, and then a ‘leafer’ finished the pattern before a bander and liner added the brown and yellow banding. Everything hand-painted, and by a team of experts in this one so simple yet so exceptional pattern: Autumn Crocus. We love Crocus, and our toast rack we offer here stands testament to the marvel that is Clarice Cliff.

Material: glazed earthenware

Manufacturer: Wilkinson Ltd, UK

Designer: Clarice Cliff 

Year of manufacture: c.1929

Dimensions: Length 12.5cm  Diameter 9cm  Height 8cm

Condition: No restoration, no flakes to the paint, no cracks or hairlines. There are two very small nicks to the underside at one end, yet these don't show when the toast rack is standing - see last image.