A ceramic bowl made by the German artist Hans Coper has been acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London, after a successful fundraising campaign secured the rare piece. The 1950s ceramic, which was subject to a temporary export ban last year, was purchased in memory of the journalist Annabel Freyberg.
Freyberg died of cancer in December 2013, aged 52; she was the arts editor of the Evening Standard newspaper from 1999 to 2002, and also held senior editorial positions at World of Interiors magazine and the Daily Telegraph magazine.
The Annabel Freyberg Memorial Fund raised more than £60,000 through her friends and colleagues; remaining contributions came from the V&A. The department of culture, media and sport said last year that the bowl was at risk of being exported from the UK unless a buyer matched the asking price of £92,291.
Valerian Freyberg, Annabel’s brother, tells The Art Newspaper that “she absolutely loved the V&A, and studied at the Kingston School of Art. This bowl, which is quite painterly and a very decorative ceramic, is entirely appropriate for her.”
The bowl, one of only a handful of large decorative bowls made by Coper between 1953 and 1955, shows a bird with outstretched wings above a sun-like motif. It is on display in the V&A’s ceramic galleries, joining 12 other works by the potter in the museum collection.
Alun Graves, the senior curator of ceramics at the V&A, says in a statement: “The bowl is a rare example that captures through its bold figurative design a lesser-known aspect of Coper’s practice.” Examples of Coper’s works in UK public collections date mainly from the 1960s.
