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 how a working-class Staffordshire girl brought modern art to the people'." The drama was broadcast in December 2000. In 2002 Peter Wentworth- and Kay Johnson, the authors of the original 'Clarice Cliff' book from 1976 returned to Britain to lecture at a CCCC event at Christie's, South Kensington. They spoke about the early days of collecting when their first purchase had been," 'a Summerhouse Athens jug for 7 shillings and 6 pence, 35 pence'. " Peter had actually spoken to Cliff on the phone, but she had declined to be interviewed. They revealed that they had both been working for