Clarice Cliff (1899-1972) is best known for the cheerfully colored, Art Deco-influenced ceramic vases, pitchers, mugs, cruets, and sifters she painted from the late 1920s until the mid-1930s for Newport Pottery, a subsidiary of the Burslem firm A.J. Wilkinson, which also produced Royal Staffordshire Pottery. Known as “Bizarre” ware, Cliff’s predominantly orange, blue, yellow, and green pieces were so popular, she was made the artistic director of Wilkinson in 1934. There she oversaw the work of other designers, including Paul Nash and Vanessa Bell, and in 1940 she married Wilkinson’s manager, Colley Shorter.