Dame Lucie Rie

The Artist
Sale, Philips de Pury, London, 15th October 2009, lot 82, where acquired by the present owner

Norwich, Sainsbury Centre, Lucie Rie, 10th November - 13th December 1981, cat. no.98, illustrated, with tour to London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 17th February - 28th March 1982.

Tony Birks, Lucie Rie, Stenlake Publishing Ltd., Catrine, 1987, illustrated (a similar example) p.173.

Structurally sound with no obvious cracks or breaks, the work appears in excellent overall condition. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Lucie Rie was an artist fascinated by her materials, and she continued to explore the vast and ever-changing potentials that they offered throughout the course of her career.  From thickly-potted early works created during her time in Vienna, to the thick, bubbling volcanic glazes produced in the 1980s, Rie honed and developed her techniques, perfecting them through the continued support of friends and fellow potters including Bernard Leach and Hans Coper.  In the late 1950s, following her participation in an exhibition at John Sparks Gallery, Rie began to further her experiments with coloured metal oxides, both in the glaze and the body of the clay, for instance adding copper carbonate to produce a deep, dusky pink under the glaze, as seen on the lip and underside of the present work.  This desire to explore developed further through the different forms that she developed from the late 1950s onwards, including the emergence of a composite ‘flask’ shape – incorporating a thrown neck upon two joined ‘bowl’ shapes. The gently suggestive figurative form became the closest that the artist got to depictions of a human form, with a strong abstract influence of early Cycladic forms, a theme also explored by her fellow potter and close friend Hans Coper from the 1950s onwards.  Whilst Coper was to expand further on these themes into the 1960s and 70s, Rie returned to more traditional vessel forms, yet these important early works serve to showcase her ever-shifting approach, challenging traditions and introducing new, exciting shapes, forms and glazes that set her apart from many of her contemporaries.