Plate - 24 Piece Dinner Service

DesignerDesigned by Clarice Cliff (Tunstall, England, 1899 - 1972)

ManufacturerManufactured by A J Wilkinson Ltd. (Burslem, England, 1894 - 1964)

Date1933

Object Nameplate

Mediumearthenware

ClassificationsCeramics

AcquisitionPurchased in 1987.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDMS014084.15

Keywords

About MeThe Biarritz shape was registered by A.J. Wilkinson Ltd. in 1933. This dinner service clearly shows the influence of the art deco style with its rectangular plates, half moon tureen and asymmetrical decoration.
After a brief period at other Staffordshire potteries, Clarice Cliff started her creative career as a paintress at the A.J. Wilkinson factory in Stoke-on-Trent in 1919. She attended classes at local art schools and, later, briefly studied at the Royal College of Art. Encouraged by the company management, she began to try out new, colourful designs on poor quality wares at Wilkinsons' Newport Pottery. These wares were outrageously modern, designed to be easily decorated by her team of paintresses. By 1929 she had her own range of modern shapes, many bearing the 'Bizarre' tradename. Although still designing for Wilkinsons in the 1950s and 1960s, Cliff had passed the height of her creativity and later produced more traditional designs for the company.