Hans Coper
1920–1981
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Hans Coper (1920–1981), was an influential British studio potter. His work is often
coupled with that of Lucie Rie due to their close association, even though their best
known work differs dramatically, with Rie's being more functional and traditional, while
Coper's was much more abstract and assuredly non-functional.
Born in Chemnitz, Germany, Hans Coper fled to Britain in 1939. He was interned as
an enemy alien, and held in Canada for two years; on return to Britain in 1942, he
served as a conscientious objector in the Non-Combatant Corps.
In 1946, with no previous experience in ceramics, he began working as an assistant
in the studio of Lucie Rie. It is from this time you will find tea sets and cups and
saucers made by both Rie and Coper. By the time he left in 1958 to establish his own
studio at Digswell House in Hertfordshire, he was already well known as a potter in
his own right, experimenting with much more abstract forms that were at the time
considered very ahead of their time. Because of the success of his work, he went on
to became a leading figure in the 20th century studio pottery movement. Throughout
the 1960s he taught pottery at the Camberwell School of Art and the Royal College of
Art. He died in Frome, Somerset in 1981 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Coper would characteristically throw his work on the potter's wheel, then alter and
assemble pieces by hand to achieve the finished form. Thus, although made on the
wheel, his work has a sculptural quality and is non-functional. The surfaces of his
pots tend to be roughly textured and colored with oxides, especially manganese
oxide. His distinctive pots take on recognizable "forms" he termed Spade, Bud, Cup,
Egg, Flower and Arrow.
Coper's work was widely exhibited and collected even in his lifetime. Today, it is found
in the collections of major museums around the world, including the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Sainsbury Collection, as well as
in private collections worldwide.
•
Saturn
form’
1965
Hans
Coper
Stone
ware
h.
24.0
cm
• Hans
Coper
• TitleFrome
/Somerset
Mediumce
ramics
Size6.3 in
• Year1981
Notice Stamp in
Base of foot.
• HANS COPER Early
‘Hourglass’ form, c.
1962
Stoneware, thrown
and assembled.
Delicate texturing
beneath layers of
vitreous slip and
manganese glaze. 28
cm. (11 in.) high
• ESTIMATE £5,0007,000
"The wheel imposes its economy, dictates limits, provides momentum
and continuity. Concentrating on continuous variations of simple
themes I become part of the process. I am learning to operate a
sensitive instrument which may be resonant to my experience of
existence now in this fantastic century." Hans Coper
• Enlarge
• Hans Coper (1920 1981)
• Craigievar Castle
• circa 1966 - mid 1970s
• A large vase with
spherical base and
flattened cylindrical neck.
Brown and cream glazes.
Part of the original
ceramic collection of Lady
Sempill, the castle's last
resident, which also
includes works by Lucy
Rie and Bernard Leach
• 50.2 cm
• No 38: Globular vase, 1955
• This example bears cut decoration and dates from 1955. It is made
of light-coloured stoneware and partly covered in manganese
pigment inside and out; the exterior is cut with vertical sgraffito lines
through which the body clay appears. The lower half of the interior is
coverd with a transparent glaze.
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Footed globular vase, c.1953 (P.74.102)
This footed pot is somewhat primitive in
appearance. The stoneware body is cut through
with short toothed or grooved decoration and
covered with white glaze inside and out; the exterior
is also brushed with manganese brown pigment in a
wide spiral and, producing a pattern of contrasting
colours and textures. The foot's exterior is also
grooved and brushed with matt brown pigment. In
the early 1950s, when this pot was made, Hans
Coper shared Lucie Rie's Albion Mews workshop in
London and they worked in the same materials,
producing very different pots.
It's a small piece with a large history to be living with, stamped with both LR and HC
seals (made by Coper) from Albion Mews Pottery 1940's. Beautiful manganese glaze,
and subtle variation in wall thickness left from the throwing process.
• Coper - “My
concern is with
extracting
essence rather
than with
experiment and
exploration.
The wheel
imposes its
economy,
dictates limits,
provides
momentum and
continuity.”
Common Traits
• Modern Geometric Forms
• European ideals- rejected any reference to
traditional craft pottery or oriental ceramics
• Combinations of Different Thrown Parts
• Altered Shapes
• Textured Surfaces
• Manganese Oxide, Matte Black Glaze, and OffWhite Stoneware
• Tall Cylindrical Bases
• Initials Stamped in Foot