63 - VASE: Hans Coper, c. 1966–70

Summary

Thrown stoneware coated with white slip over manganese and sanded to create a textured surface before jirimj. Marks: impressed oval seal with ‘HC monogram. Height 27 cm. C.36–1972.

Hans Coper (1920–81) came to England as a refugee from Germany in 1939. After the war he went to work for Lucie Rie, an Austrian studio potter (b. 1902) who had been in London since 1938. On her advice he took lessons in throwing from Heber Mathews at Woolwich Polytechnic and quickly became adept. During the late 1940s and 1950s he and Lucie Rie produced tableware to support themselves while each evolved their own highly individualistic styles. In 1959 Coper moved to Digswell Arts Trust in Hertfordshire, and he later worked at Hammersmith and at Frome in Somerset.

Although Coper's pots have a sculptural quality, they were created mainly by the basic ceramic technique of throwing. Their striking forms, often made up of two or more sections, are enhanced by subtle texturing and shading of the surface. Coper's style owed nothing to Oriental or folk pottery but was influenced to some extent by that of Pre-Dynastic Egypt, the Cyclades and ancient Greece. Thoroughly modern and innovative, his work provided a new source of inspiration for studio potters, but stands austerely apart from the English ceramic tradition.