Pink and Grey Bottle/Vase ca 1979
Stoneware with intense blue and pink pitted glaze: ht. 14 in. x 6.75 in, artist stamp on base

Dame Lucie Rie moved to London in 1938 to escape Jewish persecution and by 1950 was on her way to becoming established as one of Britain’s leading ceramists. She is the most celebrated and most widely collected of all 20th century ceramists. Issey Miyaki curated a landmark exhibition for her; Dan Flavin created light sculptures in her honor; and she received both the CBE and DBE (Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire). This is a signature form known as the “stamp vase”. A similar work was chosen by the Royal Mail in 1987 adorning one of four stamps to commemorate the achievement of British potters.

References: Birks, Tony. Lucie Rie. London: AC Black, 1994; Issey Miyake Meets Lucie Rie. Tokyo: Miyake Design Studios, 1989; Stewart Johnson. Lucie Rie / Hans Coper, Masterworks by Two British Potters. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994.  

Acquired from Garth Clark Gallery, NY