Hans Coper: Monumental bottle | London | April 2023

This is Hans Copper's monumental bottle from circa 1959, which once was part of the private collection of Henry Moore. The piece was a Christmas present to Moore, who was a great admirer of Copper's work. Both Moore and Copper shared a modernist language inspired by ancient forms, and so this piece looked very much at home in Moore's sitting room amongst his collection of artefacts. What's so striking about this piece is the scale. It's one of the larger pieces that I have seen of Hans Copper, and is an early example of the bottle series that Copper would go on to produce and develop throughout the 60s and early 70s. Hans Copper is really one of the most important ceramicists of our time, and I'm thrilled to be able to see this monumental piece in person for the first time, especially since it's been in a private collection ever since the 60s.