Clarice Cliff (née Machin) took in washing to supplement the family income, and they had seven children. Cliff was sent to a different school from her siblings, and this perhaps prompted her more independent approach to her career, and her non-standard life style by Stoke-on-Trent standards. After school Cliff would visit an aunt who was a hand painters at a local pottery company, and she also made models from papier-mâché at school. At the age of 13, Cliff started working in the pottery industry. Her first work was as a gilder, adding gold lines on ware of traditional design. Once she had
Clarice Cliff After the visit Cliff sent the daughter a present of a miniature child's tea set painted in her "Honolulu" pattern. In the mid 30s tastes changed and heavily modelled ware came into vogue. The "My Garden" series issued from 1934 onwards led the way, with small flowers modelled as a handle or base on more rounded shapes. These were fully painted in bright colours – the body of the ware was covered in thin colour washes – 'Verdant' was green, 'Sunrise' yellow and so on. The range included vases, bowls, jugs, a biscuit barrel, and proved very popular as gift