Dame Lucie Rie; Renowned Potter

Dame Lucie Rie, an internationally known potter, 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.

Rie was born into a prosperous family in Vienna. In 1938, as Adolf Hitler gained power, Rie and her husband moved to London. They soon separated.

Coper, a German refugee, started as a novice at Rie’s studio in 1946, then became her collaborator. In the early years, while struggling to make a living, they made ceramic buttons that are now highly prized.

Rie worked in vivid colors, brilliantly glazed magenta, peacock blue and gold. Prices for her 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--a record for her work.