German-born, Coper studied and worked as a studio potter. His work was mostly abstract and non-functional. Coper fled from Germany in 1939 and settled in Britain for the rest of his life. After his career in the Non-Combatant Corps, Coper began assisting in the studio of Lucie Rie in 1946 although having had no experience working with pottery. This training from Lucie Rie gained him recognition in the art world so that by the time he left Rie’s studio in 1958 to work in his own in Digswell House in Hertfordshire. Coper’s work become more abstract and experimental and he became a catalyst in the 20^th century studio pottery movement. Towards the later part of his career, Coper went onto teach at the Camberwell School of Art and the Royal College of Art. His work was already becoming part of significant collections and today can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum as well as private collections.