Acquired directly from the artist; Private Collection, London, UK
Literature
Tony Birks, Lucie Rie, London, 1999, p. 73 for a similar example and a full explanation of the circumstances of this unique firing
Catalogue Essay
"A curious kiln event had given Lucie a forewarning of Hans [Coper’s] death. Opening a kiln in early May that year Lucie was horrified to find that all her pots were black, unlike anything she had ever made before. She could think of no technical reason at the time for this sombre firing, and she asked Cyril Frankel to dispose of the pots as quickly as possible. Knowing Hans was very ill, she had gone straight to Frome and had stayed with him until a few days before he died". – Tony Birks, Lucie Rie, 1987
Dame Lucie Rie studied under Michael Powolny at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna before immigrating to London in 1938. In London she started out making buttons for the fashion industry before producing austere, sparsely decorated tableware that caught the attention of modernist interior decorators. Eventually she hit her stride with the pitch-perfect footed bowls and flared vases for which she is best-known today. She worked in porcelain and stoneware, applying glaze directly to the unfired body and firing only once. She limited decoration to incised lines, subtle spirals and golden manganese lips, allowing the beauty of her thin-walled vessels to shine through. In contrast with the rustic pots of English ceramicist Bernard Leach, who is considered an heir to the Arts and Crafts movement, collectors and scholars revere Rie for creating pottery that was in dialogue with the design and architecture of European Modernism.