Resident in England since 1971, this year she was made Chancellor of the University for the Creative Arts in Surrey where she long taught.
Africa remained a strong influence on her coiled pots and, indeed, one of the highest prices for her work - the signed and dated 1994 vessel Sans Titre sold at €156,000 (£110,000) - was taken at Sotheby’s Paris Arts d’Afrique et d’Oceanie sale in June 2015.
Bonhams Knightsbridge sold a terracotta hand-built work in June.
Incised Odundo and dated 1984, the 12.5in (31.5cm) tall piece sold at £20,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium).
A more affordable - if not cheap - way of collecting Lucie Rie work is to focus on the buttons she produced to make a living during and for a few years after the Second World War.
A collection of 43 buttons made with glassmaker and fellow exile Fritz Lampl took £3800 at Bleasdales in Warwick (ATG No 2356, September 1). At Sotheby’s on September 17-18, a group of 19 press-moulded stoneware buttons - the largest just over lin (3cm) diameter - took £5500.
Estimated at £800-1200, they had been given by the artist to the vendor.
