Offer Waterman

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Offer Waterman are specialist dealers in 20th Century British and International Post-War and Contemporary art.

The gallery is temporarily closed to the public but we are continuing to work from home.

27/08/2026

Born in Germany in 1920, Hans Coper arrived in London in 1939 and was first introduced to Lucie Rie seven years later at her home and studio, 18 Albion Mews – beginning work as an assistant producing domestic wares and buttons.

His arrival marked one of the most important events in the lives of both artists. Originally set on becoming a sculptor, once he discovered the potter’s wheel Coper – much like Rie during her time in Vienna – was lost to it. On Rie’s advice he attended classes at Woolwich Polytechnic given by Herber Mathews (who had studied under William Staite Murray). He soon mastered throwing and, under Rie’s guidance, an understanding of glazing.

As our upcoming exhibition Lucie Rie/Hans Coper: Life at the Wheel showcases, the relationship between Coper and Rie became a friendship based on mutual respect and admiration, each learning from the other. Together they shared ideas, exploring the rich versatility of one of the earth’s most basic and accessible materials.

Lucie Rie/Hans Coper: Life at the Wheel opens Friday 18 September at Offer Waterman

📷 Hans Coper at Albion Mews, c.1956. Photograph © Estate of Jane Coper & The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Hans Coper, Ovoid pots, c.1970-72. Photograph by Sylvain Deleu
Hans Coper at the wheel, Albion Mews, c.1956. Photograph © Estate of Jane Coper & The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Hans Coper, Bottle vases, c.1958-59. Photograph by Sylvain Deleu

24/08/2026

Opening next month, Offer Waterman is delighted to present Lucie Rie/Hans Coper: Life at the Wheel – a celebration of two of the most important artists of the twentieth century. Drawing together over 200 works, all from private collections, the exhibition will feature a selection of pieces available for sale as well as those on loan.

Rie and Coper were born outside of Britain, and as emigres both were forced to forge their own path, carving out a new space within the genre and challenging perceptions dominated at the time by Bernard Leach and his circle. While developing their own distinct aesthetic styles, their work remained inextricably linked by their biography and the twelve years they spent working together at Albion Mews. Both were reluctant to write or speak publicly about their inspiration or methodologies; instead, they spent their lives at the wheel, throwing each day. Together, they changed the course of ceramics in Britain and beyond.

This exhibition aims to chart that journey with carefully selected works that show the evolution, exploration and refinement of forms that today are celebrated as some of the most original and important within the medium.

📷 Photography by Sylvain Deleu

20/08/2026

Almost three decades have passed since Lucie Rie’s and Hans Coper’s work was last presented side by side in a dedicated exhibition in London at Barbican Centre Art Gallery. This September we are delighted to be reuniting their work once more, in the largest joint exhibition of their work ever held in a commercial gallery setting!

Lucie Rie/Hans Coper: Life at the Wheel draws solely on works held in private collections, and therefore not generally accessible to the public, and begins with some of the earliest known examples made by Rie in Vienna through to those thrown on the wheel in 1990, the year she ceased working. These are joined by some of Coper’s earliest explorations with clay, a material he was first introduced to by Rie at her studio at 18 Albion Mews, and culminating in some of his last, most refined forms, created before his death in 1981.

The exhibition opens Friday 18 September and will be free and open to the public Tuesdays – Saturdays, from 10am – 6pm (11am – 5pm Saturdays).

For more information do get in touch!

📷
Lucie Rie at Albion Mews, c.1960s. Photograph by Steffi Braun Olsen
Lucie Rie, Tapered Vases, c.1965. Photograph by Sylvain Deleu
Hans Coper in his Hammersmith studio, c.1965. Photograph © Estate of Jane Coper & The Lucie Rie and Hans Coper Foundation
Hans Coper, Squeezed pot, c.1965 and Large ‘Bell’ form with ‘Saturn’ ring, c.1965. Photograph by Sylvain Deleu

17/08/2026

Sensational ceramics by Lucie Rie and Hans Coper – on display this September as part of our upcoming exhibition Lucie Rie/Hans Coper: Life at the Wheel.

For more than three decades Offer Waterman has been devoted to telling the story of Modern British Art. Ceramics have always formed an integral part of that program, reflecting our belief that the finest achievements in the medium are every bit as compelling as the greatest works of modern art.

Lucie Rie’s and Hans Coper’s vessels combine form, surface, colour and proportion with a sophistication equal to that found in the work of the leading artists of their generation. Indeed, it is impossible to tell the story of twentieth-century British art without them! As emigres they brough with them new ideas, traditions and perspectives from across Europe. Through their distinct yet intertwined practices, they transfigured the ceramic vessel into an object of extraordinary formal ambition, reshaping the course of modern ceramics in Britain and beyond!

For more information, or to register your interest be sure to get in touch!

📷 Sylvain Deleu

23/06/2026

Coming under the gavel this week is gallery artist Tarka Kings’ beautiful drawing ‘Wet Hair III’, donated by the artist to support Artists for Kettle’s Yard, The Jim and Helen Ede Fund Endowment Campaign ahead of the gallery’s 70th Anniversary in 2027.

Continuing with the artist’s exploration of the human body and outdoor swimming - the subject of her recent exhibition ‘Mornings at the Lido’ at Offer Waterman - this captivating drawing showcases Tarka’s delicate technique of graphite and coloured pencil.

The auction takes place at Sotheby's this Thursday (25th) as part of their Contemporary Day Sale - and for any enquiries do feel free get in touch or reach out to the wonderful Tamsin Golding Yee

Kettle's Yard

20/06/2026

Created in the same year as Lynn Chadwick’s participation in the British Pavilion at the 1952 Venice Biennale - New Aspects of British Sculpture - ‘Diamond Lil’ takes its name from Lillian Somerville, the influential director of the British Council’s Fine Arts department from 1948 - 1970. A compelling and powerful early work from a pivotal moment in post-war British art, we are delighted to be presenting the work at Art Basel this year, where we showing it alongside other masterful sculptures by the likes of Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Reg Butler and Kim Lim.

For more information or for a preview of the works we are showing please do get in touch!

Art Basel

17/06/2026

We are delighted to be back at Art Basel - presenting the very best of Modern & Contemporary British Art!

If you are at Basel this year be sure to stop by and say hello - and if you’re not, do get in touch for a preview of some of the works that we are showing!

Artists include William Turnbull, Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud, Magdalene Odundo, Kim Lim, Christopher Page, Barbara Hepworth, Michael Andrews, Henry Moore, Leon Kossoff, David Hockney and more …

18/05/2026

Painted during a key period in William Scott’s career, Red Figure, 1954, stands as a striking testament to his bold engagement with the figure, abstraction, and contemporary transatlantic painting currents. Here the seated female form is rendered with a visceral physicality, its contours shaped as much by painterly gesture as by anatomical description. Monumental and elemental, the figure emerges from the canvas with a raw immediacy - hovering between the corporeal and the abstract, asserting its presence through rhythm, surface and form.

We are delighted to be presenting this modern masterpiece at New York this year - which remains open today and tomorrow.

For more information and for a full preview of the works we are showing at the fair please do get in touch!

15/05/2026

Open for the first public day of viewing - TEFAF New York - where we are thrilled to be showcasing the work of celebrated artists Magdalene Odundo and Barbara Hepworth.

Magdalene Odundo, Untitled, 1986
📷

Barbara Hepworth, Three Forms (Winter Rocks), 1965

For more information or for a full preview of the works we are showing do get in touch!

13/05/2026

Celebrating the visionary artist James Tower - born on this day in 1919 - with this work from the gallery archive.

Blurring the lines with sculpture and ceramics, Tower initially trained as a painter as the Royal Academy Schools and later the Slade before falling under the spell of ceramics.

Working in earthenware Tower built his unique forms using press moulding and hand-building before applying glazes of black and white, enhanced by captivating sgraffito decoration that looked to science and the natural world.

James Tower, Oval Form, 1980, Private Collection

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