A RARE recorded interview with Staffordshire's famous potter Clarice Cliff will be heard for the first time at a Stourbridge auction and exhibition.

Fieldings Auctioneers is hosting the auction - the first official large-scale Clarice Cliff Collectors Club to be held outside London - at noon on Saturday May 31; and it is being preceeded by a mammoth exhibition of Clarice's eye-catching and highly sought after art deco collections.

The exhibition, which kicks off today (Thursday), and sale will feature up to three quarters of a million pounds worth of rare Clarice pieces from the 1920s and 1930s.

And during both events, there will be a chance for visitors and art fans to hear a rare recording of Clarice Cliff talking about her work.

Auctioneer Will Farmer said: "It's been loaned by the owner, who made the recording in 1971. There's only a couple of people who've ever heard it - she was a really private person."

Hundreds of art experts and collectors from around the UK and overseas will be flocking to both the sale, which will feature around 300 items by Clarice and her contemporaries, and the exhibition - which will feature pottery Keith Murray, Poole Pottery's Carter, Stabler and Adams and Lenci Italian art deco figurines plus rare Clarice items.

One of the prized private collections on display will be a £2,000 to £3,000 coffee set which has lain under a Hagley couple's sink for years.

It was only when the couple heard about the event that they decided to get it valued and they were shocked to discover its real worth.

Auctioneer Will, an expert on the Antiques Roadshow, said: "We've been very fortunate in that some very rare pieces have been loaned for the exhibition, and to see them together will be fantastic."

The exhibition is open to the public from 10am to 4pm today (Thursday May 29), 10am to 4pm tomorrow (Friday May 30) and from 9am to 4pm on Saturday May 31.

For exclusive video interview with Will check out www.stourbridgenews.co.uk and click on the video icon.

Meanwhile - another exhibition of Clarice Cliff's work is taking place at Dunsley Hall Hotel near Kinver on Thursday May 29, Friday May 30 and Saturday 31 and expert Sevi Guatelli will be launching his new book The Best of Clarice Cliff' on Friday (May 30).

Popular TV personality Eric Knowles will be at the event, which will feature £1m worth of vibrant Clarice Cliff pieces on display.

Both the exhibition and book launch - which will be an all-day affair from 9.30am to 10pm on Friday - are open free of charge to the public.