Thistle Form, ca. 1965
Hans Coper (British [b. Germany], 1920–1981)
Stoneware; H. 12 in. (30.5 cm)

Cycladic Form, ca. 1975
Hans Coper (British [b. Germany], 1920–1981)
Stoneware; H. 11 in. (27.9 cm)

The potters Hans Coper and Dame Lucie Rie were long-standing friends whose lives and careers were closely intertwined. Both fled their native countries as refugees from Nazism; Rie arrived in England in 1938, and Coper in 1939. After the war, Rie began to produce domestic wares for shops, but she soon realized that her more individual work was held in higher esteem. Coper, after being interned in Canada during the war as an enemy alien, decided to become a sculptor. To make ends meet, he began working in Rie's London studio in 1946. Influenced by his older friend, he quickly came to think of himself as a potter.

Rie's tightly controlled bowl is typical of her oeuvre; its appeal lies in the refined elegance of its shape and the varied richness of its glaze. Coper's work, on the other hand, is characteristically strong and monumental; though completely sculptural, his ceramics invariably remain vessels. The subtly complex shape of his Thistle Form contrasts with its rough yet delicately nuanced surface texture. His abstract Cycladic Form evokes an image from antiquity. It is quite small, but with a bold and forceful presence.