Bowl (brown and white inlaid line), 1974

Lucie Rie was one of the foremost potters of the 20th century. Though retaining conventional vase and bowl shapes, Rie created a highly expressive and original formal language, influenced by traditions ranging from prehistoric pots to Islamic fritware. Her technique was also innovative, notably for the practice of decorating and glazing pots before once-firing them.

This bowl was decorated with inlaid lines on the outside and sgraffito lines on the inside, a common feature in Rie’s work from the early 1950s. She used a steel needle to scratch lines into the glaze or slip, revealing the colour of the clay beneath. This was a long-winded and risky process, inspired by the Bronze Age pots decorated with lines etched with bird bones, which she first saw at Avebury in Wiltshire.