Saturday, July 18, 2009

My Introduction to Clarice Cliff through Winston Churchill

I attended a wonderful tag sale last weekend and found this charming Staffordshire Toby Mug of Winston Churchill. As my ancestry is mainly English, I tend to have a fondness for its people and have a great respect for Sir Winston Churchill. My paternal grandmother and I shared this admiration and for most things English. I have a plate of hers with his likeness that I treasure.

Seeing the mug, I recognised the likeness immediately and took it without hesitation. Turning it over, it was made in Staffordshire England, by Shorter and & Sons, Ltd. Many of the Staffordshire toby mugs that I have come across are not nearly as nice as this piece. It is well made, with vivid coloring, a substantial piece of pottery. Not knowing very much about Shorter & Sons, I decided to do some research.

Many of the Stroke-on-Trent, Staffordshire Potteries became closely affiliated due to family ties and mergers through the years. Shorter & Sons is one of those potteries. Arthur Shorter began Shorter & Son’s in 1878 with a partner (James Boulton). Due to the death of his brother-in-law, Arthur Shorter purchased A J Wilkinson Ltd. In 1920 he acquired Newport Pottery. Arthur’s sons, Colley & Guy worked closely with their father at the three factories. The interesting connection in all this is a seventeen-year-old designer by the name of Clarice Cliff who had just joined the Wilkinson pottery about the same time that Colley & Guy began managing the Newport and Wilkinson plants.

Clarice Cliff was a very talented artist and a prominent 20th century Art Deco designer. Her bold patterns known originally as Bizarre by Clarice Cliff were an immediate success. She became Art Director for the Newport and Wilkinson factories. For the 1930’s it was unprecedented for a woman to have such a promenade role in a company and much was written about her during that time. Cliff distinguished herself from other Staffordshire designers by her ability to design not only the patterns but also the pottery shapes on which they were painted.

Getting back to the "Shorter" of the story and my Toby mug, Colley Shorter took a great interest in Clarice Cliff's work and they spent a lot of time together. He sent her to Paris and to the Royal College of Art to study modern design. It was Colley who conceived the idea of putting her signature on her designs that are so highly collectible today. It is rumored that at some point their business relationship became an affair. In any case, after the death of Colley’s first wife in 1940, Colley & Cliff were married. After his death in 1963, Cliff sold the pottery works to Midwinter Pottery.

She created many outrageous, wild and vivid patterns that were cleverly marketed in pamphlets, in-store painting demonstrations and endorsed by paid celebrities. A story that appeared in the California Pasadena Evening Post pictured her with a five-foot-high 'horse' made entirely of Bizarre ware made to promote the pottery. Cliff made what has become her most famous and quote about her pottery: "Having a little fun at my work does not make me any less of an artist, and people who appreciate truly beautiful and original creations in pottery are not frightened by innocent tomfoolery"

It seems to me that Cliff and Churchill were both great visionaries. Cliff actually did a small Toby of Winston Churchill that bears her famous signature, but this is not the one. None the less, my Winston came from a family of potteries where beautiful and original creations were made lead by a highly creative an artistic woman. Perhaps that is why he is so charming. My daughter says that finding vintage pottery is like being an archaeologist. You never know what you will find when you start digging. You can read more about Clarice Cliff here:



Thursday, July 16, 2009

LE Smith 1930 Scottie Dog Creamer or Pipe Rest Mystery

I enjoy learning, it keeps life fun. I am amazed by the little bits I learn while traveling around finding items for my collection or resale. Sometimes they are real mysteries. For example, a few weeks ago I found this cute little Scottie Dog at a local thrift store. A simple little pressed glass crystal dog I took for a pipe rest by the shape and design. I thought it might be 30's - 40's and perhaps something that was created due to the popularity of Fala, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's beloved Scottie dog, noted as one of the most popular of the US Presidential Pooches. My research showed that some collectors believe it to be a pipe rest, as I did. However, most attribute it to the L.E. Smith Glass Company as a creamer that was made for Post Grape-Nut Cereal as a giveaway for kids in the 1930's. According to Tom Felt, L E Smith Glass Company, The First One Hundred Years, none of the factory inventories corroborate this information. But, he continues, special order items would have been shipped in their entirety to the purchaser (Post). It is clear that L.E. Smith used the Scottie dog in many of their designs. Also, Felt tells us that the value of the piece may be in the number sometimes noted on the bottom (1 - 37). Some numbers are difficult to find, such as no. 36 and are highly sought-after. Some like to collect all numbers. So, is this a 1930's enticement for kids to want Grape-Nut cereal for the creamer “toy-surprise” or is it a pipe or cigarette rest?

Tom's Book is a great by the way and I recommend it.