Clarice Cliff into context when he pointed out that in the same period, Susie Cooper, another Staffordshire ceramicist and designer, had " 'fewer than 20 reviews, all bar one in the trade press' ". Despite all the publicity she received, Cliff was actually quite camera shy, and in most cases the images of her pottery were what dominated the women's magazine of the day. One picture which shows Cliff informally was taken when a South African stockist of her ware, from Werner Brothers, visited the factory on a buying trip. Cliff is seen with the 3-year-old daughter and wife of the stockist.
Clarice Cliff modelling figurines and vases, gilding, keeping pattern books and hand painting ware: outlining, enamelling (filling in colours within the outline) and banding (the radial bands on plates or vessels). In the early 1920s the decorating manager Jack Walker brought Cliff to the attention of one of the two factory owners, Arthur Colley Austin Shorter, who managed it with his brother Guy. Colley Shorter was 17 years older than Cliff, and as well as playing a major role in nurturing her skills and ideas, he was married but was later to be her husband. Cliff was given special attention by her