Hans Coper

Do you own a piece by Hans Coper and would you like to know more about the work and its value? Our Experts will carry out a free appraisal of your sculpture, provide you with an estimate of the market price, and help you to sell it at the best price.

Status, price and estimation of the artist Hans Coper

Price of a sculpture: €4,500 – €142,100

If you would like to have a Hans Coper work appraised, our experts will take care of everything.

Hans Coper’s debut

Hans Coper was a German-born English potter who was born in Chemnitz, Germany on 8 April 1920 and died on 16 June 1981 in Somerset, England. He fled to Britain in 1939, but was interned as an enemy foreigner and spent two years in Canada. When he returned in 1942, he became a conscientious objector in the non-combatant corps.

In 1946, he had no experience as a ceramist and started working as an assistant in the studio of Lucie Rie, a British potter with Austrian roots. They collaborated to produce tea sets. Coper held his first exhibitions with Rie at the Berkeley Gallery in the early 1950s.

Hans Coper and abstract pottery

In 1958 he became a British citizen and set up his own studio in Hertfordshire. There he experimented with much more abstract forms than in his early days. He was considered to be far ahead of his time. The artist used to throw his work on his potter’s wheel, then modify and assemble the pieces by hand to obtain the final form.

Thus, although made on a wheel, his work has a sculptural quality, but is always functional and is mainly concerned with containers for flowers, fruit or candle holders. Furthermore, the surfaces of his pots are usually roughly textured and coloured with oxides, especially manganese oxide, and white, beige, grey or black tones emerge.

Hans Coper’s status

During the 1960s he taught pottery at Camberwell School of Art and the Royal College of Art, and because of the success of his work, he is one of the leading figures of the 20th century in pottery technique.

Coper’s work can now be found in major museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, as well as in private collections. One of his best-known works is a set of three candlesticks on seven legs, commissioned in 1962 and displayed on the high altar of Coventry Cathedral.

In October 2018, Christie’s London auctioned a series of pottery by the artist. The auction house sold an “Ovoid Pot” for almost €25,000 and an “Hourglass” for over €14,500.

Appraise and sell a sculpture by Hans Coper

If you own a Hans Coper sculpture or any other work, ask for a free estimate via our online form.

You will then be contacted by a member of our team of experts and auctioneers to give you an independent view of the market price of your sculpture. In the event of a sale, our specialists will also advise you on the various options available to sell your work at the best price.