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Lot Essay
What distinguished Lucie Rie was her ability to constantly find endless variety within a narrow range of forms and decorative techniques. She mainly focused on vases and bowls and employed very minimal decorative motifs save for incised lines. She did, however, constantly experiment with glazes and her handling of lines. She opted to fire her works only once. They were air-dried and then she raw-glazed them and instead of dipping works in glaze, she used a brush for greater control and incised the works with a pin or needle. Her glazes varied in thickness as well as texture.
She was an Austrian émigré who came to London in 1938. She had studied pottery at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna, under Michael Powolny, and was familiar with the works of the Vienna Secession. She became friends with Bernard Leach but did not fall under his shadow. During the war, she made buttons and then table wares for the likes of Heal’s, Liberty’s and Bendick’s to supplement her income and for a similar reason taught in Camberwell College of Arts from 1960 to 1972. By 1991 she had gained sufficient recognition for her elegant works to be honoured as a Dame Commander of the British Empire.
She was an Austrian émigré who came to London in 1938. She had studied pottery at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna, under Michael Powolny, and was familiar with the works of the Vienna Secession. She became friends with Bernard Leach but did not fall under his shadow. During the war, she made buttons and then table wares for the likes of Heal’s, Liberty’s and Bendick’s to supplement her income and for a similar reason taught in Camberwell College of Arts from 1960 to 1972. By 1991 she had gained sufficient recognition for her elegant works to be honoured as a Dame Commander of the British Empire.