Provenance:
The Rollo and Marion Ballantyne Collection of Dame Lucie Rie, Hans Coper and Others, Bonham’s 22 June 1995, lot 67
Professor Luke Herman
His sale, Woolley & Wallis, 13 December 2017, lot 88
The Ballantyne Collection, partly sold by Bonham’s in 1995 and with the rest donated to Nottingham Castle Museum, was described at the time of the auction as “…the finest private collection of Lucie Rie pots ever to come on the market” and included many pieces which were given to them by the potter.
This small vase, dated to circa 1974, is an exquisite example of how an artist’s ideas and techniques do not necessarily need a large canvas to shine forth. It is poised and delicate, yet is stable enough to easily be used but it also has a voice strong enough to allow it to occupy its space with great presence.
The quiet authority of Rie’s best work has continually been recognised as one of the major achievements in ceramic art in the twentieth century and continues to be keenly collected around the world.
