Despite earning international recognition before fleeing Vienna, Lucie Rie was initially refused a licence to make pottery in England. Instead, she made a living during the war by creating beautiful, sought-after ceramic buttons for high-end fashion houses. These were overlooked for many years until Issey Miyake discovered and used them in the late 1980s. They also provided her with invaluable opportunities to experiment with glazes and shapes before returning to studio pottery in the late 1940s.