Lucie Rie, Noted Potter, Dies At 93

Dame Lucie Rie, one of the most admired modern potters, died Saturday at the home and studio where for half a century she honed her craft into art. She was 93.

An exhibition of Rie pottery and the work of Hans Coper, her collaborator and lifelong friend, opened at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in February.

Lucie Rie was born into a prosperous family in Vienna and studied at Wiener Werkstatte, Vienna’s avant-garde arts and crafts studio. In 1938, as the Nazis took power, Rie moved to London.

Public appreciation has grown steadily, and prices for Rie work have soared. A Rie teapot sold at auction in December for $6,000, about four times the estimated price. A Rie vase sold for $22,000 - her record.