The bowl by Hans Coper which has been purchased for the V&A in memory of the journalist Annabel Freyberg. Contributions towards the £92,291 asking price were made by her friends and also by the museum itself.
It had sold at Phillips to an overseas buyer in 2014.
With an asking price of £92,291, it has now been purchased in memory of the journalist Annabel Freyberg by her friends with remaining contributions from the V&A.
Coper created only a handful of large decorative bowls between about 1953 and 1955. This example depicts a bird above a sun-like motif.
Coper’s work of the 1950s, made before the sculptural forms for which he is better known, is comparatively rare in public collections, although the V&A have collected Coper’s ceramics since 1951 and have 12 other pieces that trace his career over three decades.
The bowl is now on display in the V&A’s ceramics gallery, close to the original potter’s wheel on which it was thrown.
