Clarice Cliff's Stoke-on-Trent flat commemorated with blue plaque

A Shelton flat that was home to internationally renowned ceramic artist Clarice Cliff has become the second place outside of London to be commemorated with a blue plaque.

Blue plaques have been placed on buildings associated with historic figures in the capital for more than 150 years – but now the scheme has been extended across the nation by Historic England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The first national blue plaque to be unveiled was in honour of Daphne Steele, the NHS' first black matron, who is commemorated in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. And on Friday (April 26) it was the turn of one of the Potteries' most famous daughters, Clarice Cliff, to be recognised.

A blue plaque was unveiled at her former home in Snow Hill, where she lived for two decades. The ground floor of the building is now a jewellery shop, but passers-by will be able to look up and be reminded of the woman who rose from a working-class pottery gilder who started work aged 13 to an internationally successful designer and factory art director, creating colourful ceramics that brought Art Deco style to homes in the early 20th century.

Clarice Cliff lived on Snow Hill, Shelton, for two decades (Wiki Commons).

The plaque was unveiled by Arts and Heritage Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Neil Mendoza, Chairman of Historic England, alongside auctioneer and Clarice Cliff Collectors' Club owner Will Farmer.

The Antiques Roadshow expert said: "She moved into Snow Hill at 20, when for her the work was really starting to take off and she was being recognised. This was a woman who was completely and utterly driven – she was not going to stand still in a man's world and she was not going to take no for an answer.

"She spent 20 years of her life here and it's amazing to think of her coming out here every morning to her car. She was the first woman in Stoke-on-Trent to buy her own motor car.

"And here we are still talking about her. Clarice Cliff has been the cornerstone of my life and it is my 40th year of involvement with this amazing designer, sparking interest in me as a boy aged 10 discovering her work."

Members of Clarice Cliff's family were among the guests who attended the plaque unveiling ceremony. Sheila Jefferies, nee Cliff, is her first cousin twice removed and was born in Tunstall close to where Clarice herself was born. Now living in Talke, she was told about her famous relative by her grandparents.

Clarice Cliff was an internationally successful designer and factory art director (Wiki Commons).

"Sadly I never met her personally, but my granddad Clyde Reginald Cliff and Clarice were first cousins", she said. "My granddad was a master potter himself at Royal Doulton and lots of members of my family were in the potteries – we have pottery in our DNA.

"I know Clarice is internationally renowned and she is also rightly revered in this area. to get a plaque is a real honour.

"We're incredibly proud – not only is it a beautiful legacy for the family but it's wonderful for this city. It doesn't matter who you speak to in all generations, everyone has heard of Clarice Cliff."

Historic England worked with Stoke-on-Trent City Council to create a list of women in ceramics that could be considered for a blue plaque and the two organisations have been in conversation about the project since the autumn. The authority also provided access to archives for the historian researching Clarice Cliff.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council leader Jane Ashworth, who attended the ceremony, said: "It isn't just a plaque, it's asserting our place of historial and artistic significance. It's a great day for the city."

Potteries Museum and Art Gallery curator Ben Miller brought pieces of Clarice Cliff pottery to the event for guests to view. He said: "This is only second blue plaque outside London and it is quite amazing and nationally significant for it to be for a female ceramicist.

Council leader, Jane Ashworth, said the unveiling was 'a great day for the city' (LDRS).

"Everybody is aware of Clarice Cliff in the city and her work is still taught about in schools locally. She's the perfect individual to talk about in the ceramics industry in the 20th century and she embodies everything about it, when the industry was almost at its height.

"There are a number of places Heritage England could have chosen for this plaque and it's interesting they chose this location. It was her own home that she bought and lived in as a single lady.

"It's good if it brings Clarice to the attention of people beyond the city. And if it brings a higher level of recognition it will have people interested and going through the door to look at the modest collection we have at the museum, where you can see other items being produced at the same time as Bizarre Ware."

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