Bernard Leach, William Staite Murray, Dora Billington, Lucie Rie and Hans Coper. Rie and Coper exhibited together in 1948. During this period she became close to ceramicists Lucie Rie and Hans Coper. The roof of the sanctum is coper covered with a gilded dome. Coper became a partner in Rie's studio, where he remained until 1958. Coper was born in Chemnitz, Germany, and fled to Britain in 1939. Some 86 years later, Coper remarked that their prediction "showed remarkable foresight".