Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor to play ceramic artist Clarice Cliff

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Daphne and SimonImage source, LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
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Phoebe Dynevor is now a major star thanks to Bridgerton's success

Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor is to follow her role in the Netflix hit by playing the late British ceramic artist Clarice Cliff in a film biopic.

Dynevor, who portrayed Daphne Bassett nee Bridgerton in Netflix's biggest-ever show, will play the Stoke-born Cliff in Sky's The Colour Room.

"It's truly such an honour to take on such a remarkable character." she said.

Known for her bright Art Deco designs from the 1920s, Cliff was one of the UK's most important ceramicists.

Dynevor added: "The script is a beautifully written contemporary take on the 20th Century, and I feel proud to be working with such a strong female team, both in front and behind the camera."

Image source, ANL/Shutterstock
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Sky said Clarice Cliff, pictured in 1929, "quite literally broke the mould"

Sky said the film would portray Cliff as "a vivacious young factory worker" with "creativity and ambition" and who "takes more and more dangerous risks".

Sky's Sarah Wright described the artist, who died in 1972, as "a female pioneer who quite literally broke the mould in the English pottery industry".

The film, to be directed by Claire McCarthy and written by Claire Peate, will also feature The Imitation Game actor Matthew Goode.

Who was Clarice Cliff?

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

A collection of one hundred teacups by Clarice Cliff went on display at Bonhams in London in 2008

Clarice Cliff is now seen as one of the most important names of the 1920s Art Deco movement, but she came from a working-class family and started in the Potteries as a factory worker.

At a time when women rarely had the chance to design ceramics, she broke through and became a designer whose name was known to the public because her signature was stamped on each of her pieces.

She developed a unique and distinctive style both in the physical shapes of works, like her vases and teapots, and in the decoration with appealing, bright colours in geometric patterns and stylized landscapes.

Her works were popular and affordable, bringing modern style into the homes and kitchens of the less well-off - subsequently they have become widely collected and highly valued around the world.

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