Eminent Stoke-on-Trent pottery designer Clarice Cliff is today being honoured with a blue plaque.
The famous ceramicist, creator of pioneering “Bizarre-ware” in the 1920s and 1930s, is being remembered on the 125th anniversary of her birth.
A blue plaque will be unveiled at Cliff’s former flat at Snow Hill, Shelton, where she lived in at the height of her success.
The tribute is part of the new national blue plaque scheme run by Historic England on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Known for her colourful and revolutionary Art Deco designs, Tunstall-born Cliff became Art Director of one of the largest companies in The Potteries – a position historically always associated with a man.
She left school at the age of 13 to rise from working-class pottery gilder to internationally successful designer and factory art director.
Lord Mendoza, Historic England Chairman said: “We are thrilled that ground-breaking ceramicist and art director Clarice Cliff is being honoured with the next blue plaque in our new national scheme. We hope, by shining a light on Clarice Cliff and her story as a pioneer here in Stoke-on-Trent, that the blue plaque will inspire people, just as her own artistry and achievements continue to do.”
Arts and Heritage Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, who will unveil the plaque, said: “Clarice Cliff’s artistry and influential style is admired across the globe, but it was in the famous potteries of Stoke-on-Trent that she honed her great talent. It is absolutely right, therefore, that she be honoured in the place that was integral to defining her art.
“I hope that marking the 125th anniversary of her birth this year with the unveiling of this blue plaque will provide the people of her hometown and city the perfect opportunity to celebrate her legacy, and inspire others to follow in her creative footsteps.”
