Sainsbury Centre
UEA Norwich
Hans Coper : Working Notes Crafts Study Centre. 2014.
Extracts from catalogue “The Esssential Potness, Hans Coper and Lucie Rie 2014”
“I become part of the process, I am learning to operate a sensitive instrument which may be resonant to my experience of existence now.”
“My concern is with extracting essence rather than with the experiment and exploration. The wheel imposes its economy, dictates limits, and provides momentum and continuity. Concentrating on continuous variations of simple themes I become part of the process.”
Artist Statement, Victoria and Albert Museum/Collingwood, Coper Exhibition 1969.
Small Beige Spade 1966.
The body comprises a thrown circular form, from which the bottom has been flattened into an oval and the lower section has been pressed together.
Throwing rings are visible on the inside.
Areas of the white engobe have loosened from the underlying layer during firing and formed blisters.
Cycladic Vase 1973.
Blisters in the slip have been sanded down to reveal a rust coloured underlying layer.
Medium Sized Spade 1973.
There is a clear delineation between the light upper section and the rougher and darker lower section.
Small Thistle Shaped Vase 1973.
There is a large incised circle on one side of the disc and a smaller circle on the other.
Hans Coper’s characteristic use of light engobe and dark manganese oxide has produced a hazy texture.
Black Aryballos 1966.
This ceramic form has its origins with the Oil Flask used by athletes in Greece and Asia Minor.
Tall elongated diabolo forms.
After being thrown the cup has been formed into an oval and then indented at four points.
Text Fragments/Lines of Interest
Momentum Wheel.
It is difficult to determine in which order the parts were assembled.
The underlying surface is showing through the grooves that are linking the body and the base.
The manganese engobe is demarcating dark and light zones through an undulating incised line.
“Rings” caused by the placement of a prop in the kiln.
Brown-Beige Colorations.
Sensations caught within the form.
Soil like deposits/remains.
Reductions of the fired surface.
Abraded Surfaces
Incised Line.
Droplet.
Blisters, pricked open and sanded after firing. This process has produced an irregular, patch surface.
Parallel lines have been incised with a pointed object on the exterior of the base.
Thistle Shaped Vase 1966.
The dark brown patches (around the jointing of the pot) and flecks appear randomly distributed but have been purposefully placed to accentuate the structure of the vase. This flat vase with the contour of a stylised thistle flower is made up of five individually thrown pieces. The tall cylindrical foot supports a vertical disc, comprising of two individually thrown flat plates. It is as though the disc has sunk approximately ten centimetres into the foot.
Spherical Vase with Tall Broad Oval Neck 1966.
The transition from sphere to neck is accentuated with darker colourations.
Notes re/statements
- Specific to the form in question.
- Context in relation other similar forms.
- Key Words: Impregnated, Incised, Eroded, Reduction, Surface, Soil, Abraded Surfaces, Machining, Grinding, Assemblage, Components, Parts, Groups “Aryballos,Spade, Thistle, Diabolo, Cycladic, Spherical,” Sculptural, Pottery, Architectonic, Space between Forms, Spatial, Sensuality, Form and Fold, Bodily Spaces, Light and Dark, Clay, Water, Fire, Agency, Difference,
Rotterdam Exhibition with Lucie Rie. 1967
Hans Coper.
His arrangement was highly original and innovative, he showed his families of vases in groups, emphasising their subtle differences in form and surface treatment. The space between the pieces was just as important as the objects themselves. The architectonic character of Coper’s pots become visible through their dry, stone like skin and the sophisticated way in which Jane Gate photographs the work.
“Potters of reconciliation, they sought a marriage of function and beauty.”
Douglas Hill SF author/intro to exhibition.
P7478
Additions to description.
Thistle shaped vase constructed from five individually thrown pieces. The joints making up the pot have been selectively accentuated with the residues of the manganese engobe. Incised geometric marks remain from the initial turning process of the component parts, prior to the construction of the pot.
P7430
Additions to description.
Wheel thrown forms, comprising of bowl, open cylinder and an interior ring acting as a flower holder. The bowl form has been turned before being jointed with the upper section. The piece was then indented at four points to form an ovoid form. Pronounced incised horizontal marks remain from the joining, which has been further transposed by the action of becoming ovoid. Very subtle and restrained use of the manganese engobe followed by Coper’s characteristic post firing technique of abrading the surface of the ceramic.
P7539
Additions to description.
Single thrown form with the remains of the sgraffito technique after the ceramic has been heavily abraded after firing. The vertical lines of the sgraffito technique and the form itself are similar to Lucie Rie’s flower vases, see Lucie Rie by Tony Berks page 112.
This single thrown form perhaps best illustrates the creative union of both Coper’s and Rie’s practices, the form almost a kind of beaker might itself been inspired by the “dark pots” Lucie Rie found whilst visiting Avebury Museum.
Notes on Hans Coper’s process and materials.
Material for Black Clay Body.
T Material 73.2%
Red Clay 18.3%
Manganese dioxide 1.2%
China Clay 7.3%
Material for White Clay Body.
T Material 100%
Slip/Engobe
Feldspar
Whiting
China Clay
(proportions remain unknown/never revealed by the potter)
Manganese dioxide 3parts
Yellow Ochre 2parts
(mixed with water and gum Arabic 1tsp per 500cc)
Firing 1250, Once Fired Ceramics.
Finishing.
Hans Coper used a metal scouring pad “Springo” to scratch the surface of the unfired pots. The exterior of the fired pots were then painstakingly burnished using an emery disc attached to an electric drill. This action resulted in turning the dry vitreous surface into a one having a graphite-like sheen (sea pebble).
Drawings in the form of tracings were gathered from the flat planes of the display cabinet; these were further superimposed in an attempt to map the surface and forms of the Hans Coper pots and to explore their volumes and interior spaces. These new sight lines subjectively link surface details with profiles into the possibility of new spatial forms. These plans and mappings became the starting point for a series of slab and thrown assemblages. Thrown and slab worked clay forms in T Material, preliminary drawings done in-situ some with annotations Russell Moreton, 2014
Drawings in the form of tracings were gathered from the flat planes of the display cabinet; these were further superimposed in an attempt to map the surface and forms of the Hans Coper pots and to explore their volumes and interior spaces. These new sight lines subjectively link surface details with profiles into the possibility of new spatial forms. These plans and mappings became the starting point for a series of slab and thrown assemblages. Thrown and slab worked clay forms in T Material, preliminary drawings done in-situ some with annotations Russell Moreton, 2014
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