Pottery Ladies. Miss Cooper, Miss Cliff, Miss Rhead and all the forgotten girls...... (Susie Cooper) - ACE156.4

VO says Cooper’s work had a much greater range than that of Charlotte Rhead and Clarice Cliff. Photograph of Rhead. Examples of Rhead’s vases. Barry Leigh, a pottery manufacturer, talking about Rhead’s work, saying he’s never seen anyone copy her style. More examples of Rhead’s work; Leigh VO gives brief history of her career. Ornamental pieces by Clarice Cliff. Photograph of Cliff. More examples of her work. Paintresses talking about working on Cliff’s unusual designs. Peggy Davies, pottery sculptor, talking about how different this work was. Teapots, cups: Davies talking about the unusual forms of the handles. Davies says she didn’t think the pieces were always very functional, though very fashionable. Paintresses handling pieces agree about their lack of practicality. Gerald Pearson, sales manager, talking about the need to keep prices down, and thus having to try to reduce piecework prices when need be. Paintresses talking about wage cuts. Pearson gives prices for full services for tea, dinner, etc. Paintress explains how some pieces were more time-consuming than others so that the piecework rate didn’t necessarily total to the proper day rate, and that this had to be negotiated. Paintress talking about being talked out of pay rises. Paintresses talking about not having time off. Paintress says slow workers couldn’t make their wages. Women worked 5½ days a week, with a week of annual holiday. Paintresses talking about holidays. Pearson on financial pressures. Pearson VO cigarette box and ashtray set. Pearson talking about loss of market in 1939. Women talking about wartime working. Pouring moulded teapots; applying patterns to plate edge. VOs talk about the end of hand-decorated pieces, with everything either made as white ware or decorated by lithography. Designer says she’s been trying to reproduce some Clarice Cliff decorations which has proved difficult, partly because colours no longer contain same ingredients. Colour record for a pattern. Jug. Cooper’s VO says that the end of hand decorating is a great loss. Cooper says she’d love to be able bring back this skill. Credits.