Collecting 101

1.

Lucie Rie (1902-1995)

Born in Vienna, Austria in 1902, Lucie Rie was the youngest daughter of an affluent Jewish family. From a young age, Rie had a penchant for arts and culture. Her father, a successful ear, nose and throat doctor whose clients included Sigmund Freud, had a taste for Viennese Modernism. In 1922, Rie attended the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule to study under the Head of Ceramics, Michael Powolny. There she learned the science of ceramic chemistry and how to throw (shaping clay on a pottery wheel), both of which she would use throughout her career.

Rie graduated from art school and opened a studio in Vienna in 1925. In the same year, she exhibited at the Paris International Exhibition, quickly gaining a reputation for herself within the world of ceramics. In 1935, she won a gold medal at the Brussels International Exhibition. To escape the Nazi occupation, she fled Austria in 1938. Arriving in London as a Jewish émigré, she moved to a mews house in Central London’s Marble Arch, initially making a living creating glass and ceramic buttons for the Orplid Glass Studio.

Soon after the war, Rie returned to making pots and homewares, creating stylish and functional ceramics that catered to high end fashion. In 1946, she hired Hans Coper, a German émigré and budding sculptor. Coper was a huge inspiration for Rie, championing her unique ideas and celebration of modernism. In 1960 they parted ways to continue their own careers but sustained a life-long friendship. Rie continued to develop her glazing techniques, adopting an array of bright colours and creating one off pieces as well as functional objects until her retirement in 1990. She passed away in 1995 after multiple strokes.

Read more: 5 Things To Know About Hans Coper

2.

Style

Rie was recognised for her distinctly modern style, inspired by European contemporary art and design. Reducing all forms, textures and functions of her pieces to their essence, her work was defined by its simplicity, often characterized by its clean cut, angular and thin-walled shapes. While Rie had gained acclaim as a ceramicist in Vienna, her designs were initially met with ambivalence in London.

During the mid-20th century, British pottery was associated with the Anglo-Oriental style of Bernard Leach. Leach and his contemporaries rejected factory mass-production and celebrated the functionality of handmade pots created for personal use, harking back to the Arts and Crafts movement from the mid-19th century. As a result of his training in Japan, Leach produced orientally inspired pots and etchings which subsequently seeped into and dominated England’s studio pottery. Although Rie’s aesthetic differed from the more rustic style of her British contemporaries, they shared a common belief that ceramics should be appreciated as a unique art form.

3.

Techniques

Rie’s earlier works were austere and limited in colour, defined by their rugged and pitted surfaces. During the Second World War, she worked in an optical instrument factory, creating ceramic and glass buttons. Her experience of wartime button making would inform her practice and technical skills as a glazer, prompting her to start her own ceramic button workshop from her Albion Mews flat after the war.

It was here that she employed Hans Coper to be her assistant. During this period, Rie began to use the sgraffito technique - creating fine, scratched and linear detailing on her ceramics. This would become her trademark approach. She also purchased a high-firing electric kiln, allowing her to develop suitable clay bodies and glazes out of stoneware and porcelain rather than earthenware.

The 1960s highlighted a significant departure in Rie’s work from her more refined, functional ceramics to thicker, textural glazes. Creating objects for display rather than daily use, her later works were recognised for their painterly designs. She introduced colour and bronzed rims to her bowls and pottery, continuing to push the boundaries of ceramics. By raw-glazing her stonewares, she created an exceptional infusion that highlighted the maturity of her style and technique. By the 1970s, her ceramics were even more textured, vibrant and alive thanks to her choice of colours, which included pinks, yellows, greens and blues. While there are minimal references to Rie’s influences, it is thought that her Uncle Sandor’s antique collection as well as the stone age, Classical Art, Neoclassicism, Jugendstil and Japonism were all sources of inspiration for her.

4.

On The Market

Rie’s extensive body of work has become popular on the secondary market. Fortunately, her works range in price, allowing for a variety of available items depending on one’s budget. On the lower end of the spectrum, her utility wares in plain oatmeal glazes usually fetch between £500 and £1,000 on the current market. Her iconic tea and coffee sets are typically available for around £4,000. However, when it comes to larger bowls, the sky is the limit. In December 2023, Bonhams set a new world auction record price for Rie’s Footed bowl, sold for €406,800 in Paris.

5.

Collecting and Care

When building a collection of Lucie Rie works, it is important to focus on what you love and start from there. For a diverse collection we suggest selecting an example from each of Rie’s signature forms; a salad bowl, a Japanese tea cup, a footed bowl, a footed conical bowl, a bottle vase, a tea or coffee set, then perhaps something more unusual, such as a flower pot.

Given the abundance of different glazes Rie perfected throughout her career, it may be of interest to collect a range of different finishes; a knitted bowl, perhaps one in a bronze/manganese glaze, a bright blue or uranium yellow glaze, a pink glaze, a piece in white and oatmeal, a pitted glaze, or one with an integral spiral.

Similar to any ceramic collection, when it comes to the care of any Lucie Rie pieces, we suggest keeping your items at a moderate temperature that does not fluctuate dramatically and would advise on using strong display shelves or cabinets to ensure safe keeping.