An early Clarice Cliff figuarine
Transcription
An early Clarice Cliff figuarine
The Agora 1. Volume 14 No 1 November 2010 1 1 Nautical Themes in Clarice Cliff pottery 3 2 ‘Jonquil’ 8 3 Gloria ‘Tulip’ 10 5 An Interesting Clarice Cliff Fake 15 6 Clarice Cliff Publicity Artwork. 19 The Agora’s E-mail address is [email protected] The Agora’s Web site is www.theagora.com.au Subscribers are encouraged to submit articles, letters, comments, or items they feel may be of interest to other subscribers. Clarice Cliff®, Bizarre®, Fantasque® Bizooka® are trademarks of Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Limited of Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent, England and are used with the owner’s kind permission. Wilkinson and Newport archive pattern book information, images and extracts reproduced by the kind permission of Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Limited Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent, England. (Publication and all other rights reserved.) 2 Nautical Themes in Clarice Cliff Pottery Nautical motifs in the 1930’s were popular industrial design devices used to decorate everyday objects such as pottery, travel posters and fabrics. Yachts carried with them pleasurable feelings associated with summer holidays and escape to exotic locations. The association of pottery pattern names with escape to exotic locations was a well established tradition in the Wilkinson pottery. John Butler established this trend and Clarice Cliff adopted it with great enthusiasm. Despite the popularity of nautical themes in 1930’s industrial design, Clarice Cliff did not adopt them as design elements to any significant degree. Her use of nautical themes was sparing and limited to a few designs. Principal amongst these were the hand painted patterns Appliqué ‘Palermo’, ‘Gibraltar’ (pattern number 5989) and ‘Stralia’. Supporting these were pattern number 6264 ‘Porthole’ (working name) and the printed designs that made up the Cruiseware series. Nauticalinfluenced shapes, designed for Wilkinson/Newport, appear to have been limited to the shape 469 “Ocean Liner” vase. Appliqué ‘Palermo’ Perhaps Clarice Cliff’s first design to include a nautical motif was her design Appliqué ‘Palermo’. The pattern, a coastal scene with its opulent Clematis-like flowers, radiates a warm, sunny Mediterranean feeling. The presence of one or two yachts completes the sense of Hiawatha bowl decorated in Appliqué ‘Palermo’ escape to a far away location. Appliqué ‘Palermo’ was a somewhat variable pattern. The placements of the climbing plant, sea and mountains could vary from piece to piece. Less successful renditions occurred, primarily as a partial pattern depiction where the sea was left out. The usual design element placement has the climbing plants placed to one side, the flowers, together with the orange sky, overhang and partially frame the sea. Stamford tea ware decorated in Appliqué ‘ Palermo’ 3 Clarice Cliff used overhanging of flowers and/or foliage to produce, in the observer, a feeling of coziness and inclusion. In Appliqué ‘Palermo’ there is not only a feeling of inclusion but one of overlooking the sea. The design was released in 1930 and, like all the Appliqué series, saw only a short production run. It is possible that Appliqué, along with such other fine series as Latona and Inspiration, were ceased as part of production rationalisation that also saw the narrowing of the Bizarre and Fantasque ranges. Appliqué ‘Palermo’ is a fine landscape design, its exuberant floral device and perspective makes it one of Clarice Cliff’s great patterns. ‘Gibraltar’ Released in 1931as pattern number 5989, ‘Gibraltar’ is one of the finest patterns that Clarice Cliff produced. Stamford bowl decorated in Appliqué ‘Palermo’ Her deliberate choice of pastel colours and naturalism of subject depiction immediately distanced it from many other contemporary Bizarre patterns. In this seascape, Clarice Cliff moved the observation point out to and above the sea. The observer looks down on the yachts but is on a level with the middle of the mountain in the distance. The yellow sky provides a link back to the Appliqué series, but this time the sky is less dominating. Again, ‘Gibraltar’ is a highly variable pattern with regard to changes in the numbers and placement of the yachts. Also, the contour of the mountain varies to some Leda plate decorated in ‘Gibraltar’ 4 degree. Most striking but entirely sympathetic is Clarice Cliff’s choice of colours for the banding. The four colours sit easily with each other and compliment the colours used to enamel the design. The outlining is in mauve and its use as one of the banding colours, ties the design together. It has been said that the Bizarre paintresses referred to ‘Gibraltar’ by the “pet name” of ‘Porthole’. However, as shown later in this article, there was a printed pattern that shows a porthole that was also decorated in the Bizarre shop. ‘Gibraltar‘ sits most easily on round shapes. In such shapes, the placement of the sea/sand interface is not so critical. However, as in the image shown here, the use of a Leda plate with its overall square shape has posed a problem for the paintress. Although less sunny in appearance than Appliqué Palermo, ‘Gibraltar’ is none the less a great pattern whose pastel colours and naturalistic scene would have been less challenging to the general market than some of its contemporaries in the Bizarre line. It remains very popular with collectors, a tribute to its enduring charm. ‘Gibraltar’ would have lent itself to photolithographic production owing to its pastel tones and soft look. Cruiseware Following ‘Gibraltar’, in 1934 Clarice Cliff introduced her Cruiseware series of printed patterns. This was a light-hearted series of images of shipboard life – principally, flirting, loafing and other hedonistic pursuits. Although the series is discussed more fully in The Agora Vol 2 No 5, some additional information gained by the author since that article is presented here. The Cruiseware series was originally intended for decoration on Biarritz ware but did appear on both Stamford and Bonjour shapes. In its original form, the print - according to the pattern book - was produced in scarlet. Mid-1930 examples seen by the author and from contemporary advertisements indicate that the Contemporary advertising showing Stamford teaware decorated in Cruiseware design was also printed in blue and applied over a white, glazed body. Hand enamelling was either nonexistent or minimal but the edge lines or bands were in matching colours. 5 When re-introduced in 1956, the print was produced in black with some coloured hand enamelling. Interestingly, the original 1934 backstamp was re-issued as well and obviously it was not thought worth the effort to remove the Bizarre name. Hence, contrary to what is generally accepted, the use of the Bizarre backstamp did not cease in 1936. Rather, 1956/57 is more accurate. The assertion is irrefutable – the registered design number on the palette-shaped saucers establishes the date. ‘Porthole’ (working name) Pattern number 6264 Hiawatha bowl decorated in Applique Pale 1 Pattern book drawing of ‘Porthole’ decorating instructions for ‘Porthole’ Pattern number 6264, dating from 1934, has been given the working name of ‘Porthole’. Some consider this design a reduced version of ‘Gibraltar’ but the presence of a lighthouse in the pattern would seems to preclude such an association. This pattern is a printed motif specifically for use on Biarritz ware and was enamelled by the operatives in the Bizarre paintshop. It shows and imaginative use of the characteristics of the Biarritz flatware shape. The instructions for a yellow and blue band around the inner rim of the well continues the nautical flavour. The interested observer will note that the decorating instructions call for the use of white enamel. This colour was rarely used and can be seen decorating the version of ‘Silver Birch’ when depicted on a green glaze. ‘Stralia’ The 1936 pattern ‘Stralia’, falls into that group of dinnerware patterns decorated in burnished gold over a broad band of colour. Another pattern in this group is the tableware pattern ‘Reverie’ – a re-working of ‘Dryday’. ‘Stralia’ is a simple design of yachts under sail over a broad blue-green band. This design is sometimes thought to be a reduced version of ‘Gibraltar’ for production as a tableware design. The design connection between 6 ‘Gibraltar’ and ‘Stralia’ is indeed very tenuous. It is limited to the principal design element viz. the yachts. Even these are sometimes depicted in a perspective and elaborated detail quite unseen in ‘Gibraltar’. The cool blue-green band tones down the burnished gold and makes the design a suitable one for a themed table setting – as shown in Clarice Cliff’s arrangement (right). In this she has complimented the nautical design on the tableware with her Fish condiment set and shape 829 vase. The name for this pattern is clearly derived from the rendition of “Australia” as spoken by an Australian and heard through foreign ears. As can be appreciated from this brief overview, Clarice Cliff did not use nautical themes to any great extent at the Wilkinson/Newport pottery. It is to be noted that she did design, for Shorter and Sons, some shapes showing nautical themes. What we can be assured is that the small range she did design show a firm sense of pleasing style and, when presented chronologically, show that Clarice Cliff was sensitive to and met the changing tastes of the time. Greg Slater NSW Contemporary advertisement of tableware decorated in ‘Stralia’ 7 ‘Jonquil’ The early 1930’s pattern ‘Jonquil’ and its alternative colourway, ‘Lydiat’ fall into the very extensive floral group of patterns that are supported by Delecia runnings. Both ‘Jonquil’ and ‘Lydiat’ are identical in design composition, many examples of each show rather irregular outlining and hasty enamelling. ‘Jonquil’ can be easily distinguished from ‘Lydiat’ in that its principal flower (which in no way resembles a jonquil) is enamelled in green rather than yellow and the associated leaves are green rather than black. Also, the flowers in ‘Jonquil’ are Leda plate decorated in ‘Jonquil’ supported by a partial, coral background. In ‘Lydiat’ there is no supporting colour apart from the Honeyglaze on which the design has been decorated. This absence of supporting colour lends an “unfinished” air to ‘Lydiat’. The Delecia runnings are the same in both patterns except that green has been added to the yellow, brown and grey used for ‘Lydiat’. In both patterns, the floral elements are separated by a yellow line from which the Delecia runnings appear to spring. This dividing line is common to other patterns in the group, i.e. Delecia ‘Pansies’, D. Citrus, D. ‘Peaches’, D. ‘Pears’, D. ‘Poppy’ to name just a few. Like most of the Delecia supported patterns, ‘Jonquil’/’Lydiat’ are simple in construction with the principal design elements occupying only a small part of the edge of the ware. The remainder of the Pattern book drawing for ‘Jonquil’ surface was completed by runnings, thus producing an “all-over” colour effect. Such a decorative scheme had attractions for the factory in that the various elements of the total design were easily allocated to many operatives thus enabling efficient large volume production. 8 First introduced in 1933, these patterns were produced in a modest volume, judging from the amount that has come down to the present day. From examples seen by the author, it would seem that both were produced, perhaps sporadically, until about 1936. Although, it is likely that ‘Jonquil’/’Lydiat’ were primarily intended for morning/afternoon tea or coffee ware, these designs may also be seen, although rarely, decorated on fancy ware such as vases and wall plaques. Their use on flat tableware is less likely as this would have necessitated the omission of the Pattern book drawing for ‘Jonquil’ Delecia runnings and leaving just the floral/leaf design – something that would not have a great market appeal. This is not to say that dinnerware versions on Delecia based designs are unknown. Clarice Cliff did produce some but recognised that the Delecia runnings could easily be damaged by cutlery or food acids. Overall, ‘Jonquil’ and ‘Lydiat’ might not be described as particularly prepossessing designs. Rather, they are simple and unchallenging patterns that look good in display but not demand attention. For the collector, who collects by themes, both ‘Jonquil’ and ‘Lydiat’ are important because they form an integral part of the Delecia based design series and show Clarice Cliff’s skill in producing novel designs. Greg Slater NSW Biarritz and Dafodil ware decorated in ‘Jonquil’ 9 Gloria ‘Tulip’ The Gloria range was a short-lived, underglaze series of Bizarre designs released in 1930. This range, like so many others from Clarice Cliff’s early Bizarre period, represented her determination to diversify the range of decorated pottery produced by the Wilkinson/Newport pottery. Gloria, like many others (Inspiration, Latona, Moderne etc), had only a brief production run of less than two years. The Gloria range, in itself, was a diverse group of designs. Most were based on floral elements but a few showed somewhat sophisticated landscapes. With, perhaps, the exception of Gloria ‘Crocus’ (see page 63 of Comprehensively Clarice Cliff), the Gloria designs did not appear to have been reWall plaque decorated in Gloria ‘Tulip’ issued as on glaze patterns. In the case of Gloria ‘Crocus’, this pattern appeared in about 1934, decorated on the apple-green, Summer glaze. The characteristics that set the Gloria patterns apart from other contemporary Bizarre/Fantasque designs are that it was decorated under glaze using enamel colours mixed with water. Mixing colours with water rather than the standard vegetable turpentine and fat oil is not unusual. With on glaze decoration, the fat oil-based mix is necessary for the enamel colours to adhere to the glaze before firing. Whereas, with underglaze work, the colours applied will soak directly into the rough, porous biscuit ware. Close examination of Gloria ware will show that each brush-stroke is darker at its commencement and shading along its length – particularly noticeable in outlining and fine bands. The disadvantage of this technique is that mistakes could not be erased – perhaps one of the deciding factors for Gloria’s discontinuation. 10 After enamelling, Gloria patterns were covered with a thin, white Latona glaze. This adds to the muted, pastel effect although it can make some pieces look slightly dirty or soiled. The matte Latona glaze also gives the piece a slightly rough feel. In the opinion of the author, Gloria ‘Tulip’ is perhaps the most successful of the floral patterns in the Gloria range. It is a strong, well-balanced design that uses Tulips, Daffodils and leaves. When presented on flatware and decorated concentrically, one can appreciate its symmetry made informal by the diagonally opposed profile daffodil and small tulip. In this pattern the floral elements, accompanied by straight and reflexed leaves, appear to spring from an unseen ground. This floral group immediately fixes the observer’s eye and makes the design look like one of Clarice Cliff’s many stylised floral patterns. However, the pattern starts to take on the appearance of a landscape when attention is drawn to the scalloped clouds and blue sky. In these, there is a feeling of the open air and of space. Thus we see another of Clarice Cliff’s subtle techniques used to surprise the observer. Had a similar sky and clouds been applied to Gloria ‘Garden’, they would have made that pattern a little more interesting. It is most likely that Clarice Cliff developed the Gloria range as a balance to the high gloss, stridently coloured on glaze designs that comprised most of the Bizarre range at the time. There is no doubt that Clarice Cliff was particularly sensitive to the variety of tastes in the market and in response tried to produce “something for everyone”. Patternbook drawing for Gloria ‘Tulip’ 11 An Interesting Clarice Cliff Fake. This “Clarice Cliff” piece will be familiar to many readers as it appeared a few times on EBay. The author, when on a recent tour of southern New South Wales, was pleasantly surprised to find it in a large antiques shop in Gundagai. Whilst its price tag indentified it as a Clarice Cliff item, its asking price ($160) showed that the owner knew it was not genuine. However, the adhesive price label did not indicate a “reproduction” – a case of caveat emptor! The author was inclined to buy it because it presented a number of interesting features. All are indicative of a modern reproduction, executed by a skilled amateur with the intention of fraudulent representation. The shape The reproducer here has selected a shape that A large modern reproduction of Clarice Cliff’s ‘Gibraltar’ was not used by the Wilkinson/Newport pottery. In the early 1920’s Wilkinson’s used a vase shape that showed similar side support rings but these were simply embossings and with these, any similarity ends. The shape is a large lidded jar 340mm (h) x 190mm (d), slip cast from low quality earthenware. The walls are thick and somewhat uneven. The body colour is a good approximation of Honeyglaze and there is a coating of clear glaze over which the design has been applied. The shape and quality of Early 1920’s Wilkinson vase 12 manufacture is reminiscent of the Chinese-made blank pottery shapes that were popular with home craft enthusiasts in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The whole is heavily crazed, suggestive of re-firing. The Design The reproducer has chosen one of Clarice Cliff’s most recognisable and collectable designs – ‘Gibraltar’. The Colours It is obvious that the painter copied from a genuine piece of ‘Gibraltar’ rather than from a picture. Generally, the colours are well matched to the original although the pink is a little too much on the purple side. The Execution Overall, the execution of the design is as good as one will find on most genuine ‘Gibraltar’ pieces. The outlining and enamelling is sure and confident. The sea/sand interface has been executed parallel to the base so that the design does not look strange when displayed. The curved lines on the surface of the sea show superior brush technique - superior even to the similar design elements on the original shown in the first article of this issue. The excellent execution of smooth “S” shaped curves is a measure of the painter’s skill. The design is well balanced due to the painter’s careful attention to the scale of the pattern’s individual elements. Banding and lining has caused the painter some Lid showing design wrapping difficulty. It is in the appreciation of this aspect that less experienced collectors would do well to note the differences between genuine Clarice Cliff bands and modern, amateur executions. The fine lines in this piece have been done in arcs with a characteristic heavy commencement and a tailing off of the colour as the brush becomes exhausted. Genuine Clarice Cliff lining is almost exclusively done in a single sweep and rarely show a commencement or end point. This is because Detail showing good brush control Clarice Cliff’s lining and banding operatives practiced this technique hundreds of times a day and knew how to load a brush with the right consistency of colour so it would execute an unbroken line. Bizarre 13 operative, Marjory Higginson related to the author that banding and lining are best done in a cool area so that the colour does not dry quickly and this allows for an even distribution of the colour. High working room temperature could have caused the lining and banding difficulties shown in this piece. The broader bands show brushstrokes that are not concentric which suggests that the painter did not have access to a suitable turntable and hand rest essential to execute smooth bands on tall Detail showing banding defect objects. The “feel” of the piece. The collector can learn much about a piece through one’s tactile sense. When one’s hand is run over this piece, one has the sensation of feeling very fine abrasive (sand or glass) paper. The piece lacks the glassy smoothness normally associated with on-glaze decoration. This roughened texture can originate from three possible sources: i) The use of an old blank. Glaze fired blanks will absorb air moisture through micro cracks and the longer the time span between glaze firing and enamel firing, the more moisture will be absorbed. An amateur kiln operation who re-fires an old piece will find that the glaze will bubble and “spit out” (Marjory Higginson’s husband Jim’s term). These fine bubbles, produced during firing would cause the surface to become rough. The only way to avoid this bubbling is for the operative to Glaze pitting on handle undertake multiple re-firings of the blank at low temperatures in order to dry the piece before any on-glaze decoration is done and then undertake an enamel firing. ii) Glaze firing done at too low a temperature. Glaze is composed of metallic oxides to give colour supported in a mix of ground glass or similar. This glass will melt during firing and cause the enamel to fuse to the glaze. If the firing temperature is not high enough, the glass will only partly melt and cause the surface to remain rough. iii) Poorly ground enamels. Pottery operatives would grind the powdered enamels in a mixture of fat oil (reduced vegetable turpentine) and ordinary vegetable turpentine. This grinding would ensure that the enamel’s oxide and base particles will be as fine as possible. If the enamel powder is simply mixed with a medium, the particles of glass will remain of varying size. The larger particles will not completely Detail showing poorly ground colour. 14 melt during firing, and this, too, will cause the surface to be rough. Poorly ground enamel colours will also exhibit dark spots of colour in areas where the enamel is applied thinly. In the example here, all three defects are present. Bubbling of the glaze is noted on the undecorated handles. There is poor fusion of the enamel colours to the glaze resulting in a rough surface and some flaking of colour. Also noted, are dark mauve spots in the mauve enamelling indicating that the colour has not been well ground. It must be said that, according to Jim Hall, Wilkinson kiln operator, quality control in firing was not the Wilkinson/Newport pottery’s strong point. Thus collectors will be able to identify in some Clarice Cliff pieces, the same firing defects noted in (i) and (iii) in the list above. The backstamp. The presence or absence of a backstamp is not a strong indicator of authenticity. Collectors well know that application of a backstamp on Clarice Cliff pieces by the Wilkinson/Newport pottery operatives could be very irregular. However, where an apparently authentic backstamp is present, the collector should keep in mind that modern reproduction Clarice Cliff backstamps can be purchased and fired on to fake pieces or even genuine Wilkinson hand painted pieces. (See The Agora Vol 13 No 4 page 47). In the example here, a partial post 1936 Clarice Cliff backstamp can just be discerned – the remains of “Cliff” can be recognised and by extension, Partial, fake Clarice Cliff backstamp small parts of the “c” and “l” for “Clarice” together with the underlining. There are some issues with this backstamp, which has been applied on glaze. Firstly, ‘Gibraltar’ was a Bizarre pattern, so most examples should show a Bizarre stamp. However, a dealer with some small knowledge and endeavouring to defend the piece may claim that it is a late matching done after 1936. Further, the particular green colour used for this backstamp is not known to the author. It is possible that the backstamp was deliberately damaged prior to application in order for any seller to claim, when questioned by a suspiciously minded collector, that the backstamp is too obscure to be made out. Alternatively, the dealer could claim, when attempting to convince a gullible or poorly informed purchaser, that enough remains of the backstamp to identify it as a genuine Clarice Cliff piece. The author was most interested to know the provenance of this piece but the staff of the antiques centre indicated that the owner was overseas at the time. A request for information from the owner was left with the staff along with the author’s contact details. To date, there has been no contact. Although this piece is an obvious fake, its defects form a catalogue of considerations that a new collector will do well to learn when assessing a piece that is a little outside their experience. Greg Slater NSW 15 Greg Slater NSW Clarice Cliff Publicity Art Work Whilst much interest is focussed on Clarice Cliff’s designs and shapes for pottery, there has been little appreciation of her photographic and art work for the Wilkinson/Newport Pottery publicity machine. Her work, shown here, for The Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review is a good example of Clarice Cliff’s talent for pictorial composition. The artwork is at once arresting in composition and subject matter; especially so when compared with the conservative nature of other advertisements in the gazette. For the time, the advertisement is quite as challenging as was the pottery itself. This is not surprising as Bizarre ware was aimed at the modern woman, the person who wanted something different. The advertisement is dated at 1st August 1929, less than a year after the release of Clarice Cliff’s ‘Original Bizarre’ and shows a range of shapes and designs well-known to collectors. Such advertisements can be a rich source of information regarding the production of particular designs. Naturally, Clarice Cliff would want to present the latest designs in the print media wherever possible for being “up to date” or having the “latest” was a regular theme in the pottery’s advertising campaign. For interest sake, it is worth listing the elements of the artwork that can be identified with some level of confidence. 16 At the top, an Odilon tureen lid forms the suggestion of a roof and whose edge is decorated with ancient Egyptian frieze motifs. Although the Archaic series was in production at this time, to date, there is no information available to the author to suggest that this series was also produced in reduced form for tableware. Also, edge decoration of Odilon tureens is not at all common. Below and to the left is a plate in one of Clarice Cliff’s greatest patterns, ‘Ravel’. Under the ‘Ravel’ plate is a roll of print paper used in the production of lithographs. Across the plate is a YoYo vase whose fins are decorated in a geometric pattern used in the Inspiration series of designs. (see page 187 Clarice Cliff for Collectors). Across the top of the YoYo vase is a board bearing an undecorated Conical teapot, a shape 381 Conical bowl decorated in a Latona pattern, two shape 366 vases, one decorated in an geometrical Latona design, the other, what appears to be Latona ‘Tree’ and a bowl which appears to decorated in ‘Liberty’. Next to the board is a bottle kiln whose smoke includes the Bizarre name. Below the kiln are a banding/lining operative’s tools – a turntable with a banding and lining brushes. A stack of saucers have been placed next to the turntable. The partial face of an operative with eyes down, concentrating on her work (a strict requirement in the Bizarre decorating shop) peeps from behind the kiln. Similar partial faces of operatives were noted in other Clarice Cliff art work (see below and The Agora Vol 13 No34). Under the saucers is a ginger jar decorated in ‘Caprice’, behind which is a shape 347 planter decorated in what might be ‘Double V’ (collectors will have their own views on this). Behind the base of the YoYo vase is a shape 363 vase decorated in Inspiration ‘Asters’. Over the top of the latter, Clarice Cliff has placed another human element in the form of the arm of an operative operating a plate forming device. To finish off, Clarice Cliff’s signature appears at the bottom. It is interesting to note that although the pottery’s name is in bold at the bottom, “Bizarre” and “Clarice Cliff” – two important messages to buyers are less obvious - one has to look about the picture to find them. In later publicity artwork, Clarice Cliff’s name was to become far more centre stage. The whole design is an effective collage of some of the various production elements used in the creation of Bizarre ware. It bears some similarities with art work for posters and print advertisements produced at the Bauhaus for the Wiemar Exhibition in 1923. This shows that Clarice Cliff, in forming her unique style, drew inspiration from various artistic movements in the major European centres. Greg Slater NSW 17
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