Lies Cosijn
Illustration — David Röell Award presented to Lies Meijers-Cosijn in the Rijksmuseum, 1972 Alida "Lies" Meijers-Cosijn (25 April 1931 – 23 February 2016, Petten) was a Dutch ceramist. Her work is described as "fairytale like and poetic, but also sometimes bizarre and realistic."
Also recorded as Alida Cosijn
Lies Cosijn

Croes, Rob C. for Anefo · Nationaal Archief · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 1931 · Mojokerto.
- Died
- 2016 · Petten.
- Nationality
- Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Occupation
- ceramicist · sculptor · decorator
- Fields
- ceramic art
- Education
- Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs
- Teachers
- Willem de Vries · Theo Dobbelman · Sybren Valkema
- Honours
- Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau
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Documentary summary
Illustration — David Röell Award presented to Lies Meijers-Cosijn in the Rijksmuseum, 1972 Alida "Lies" Meijers-Cosijn (25 April 1931 – 23 February 2016, Petten) was a Dutch ceramist. Her work is described as "fairytale like and poetic, but also sometimes bizarre and realistic."
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Note VALÉORINE
Lies Cosijn (1931–2016) was a ceramicist, decorator and sculptor, of Dutch nationality. The ceramicist was born in Mojokerto and died in Petten.
Lies Cosijn was educated at Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs. The ceramicist worked for De Porceleyne Fles and worked in Amsterdam, Delft and Petten. Activity centred on ceramic art.
Works are held at Centraal Museum, Design Museum Den Bosch and Museum Arnhem, among others. Honours include Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q20676317 · wikipedia · Lies Cosijn
In this article
Life and work
Life and work
Lies Cosijn studied at Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs. Training under Willem de Vries, Theo Dobbelman and Sybren Valkema is recorded. The field of work recorded is ceramic art. Places of work recorded in the authority are Delft, Amsterdam and Petten. Employment is recorded with De Porceleyne Fles. Work by Lies Cosijn is recorded in the collections of Museum Arnhem, Museum van Bommel van Dam, Design Museum Den Bosch, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and Centraal Museum. Distinctions recorded are Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Born in Mojokerto, Cosijn returned with her family to The Netherlands in 1946. After attending the a girls secondary school, she studied ceramics at the Institute of Applied Art in Amsterdam under Theo Dobbelman and Willem de Vries from 1951 to 1955. In 1956 she started her career as ceramist at the De Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles as assistant in the Experimental Division. In 1957 she married Herman Meijers (1923–2000), Professor of International Law at the University of Amsterdam, and she started her own studio at the Kloveniersburgwal in Amsterdam in 1963 but moved to Petten, North Holland the next year. After the years 1969-1970 in Jamaica, Cosijn and Meijers returned to Petten. Cosijn made "stoneware clay by hand, then engraves the decor in sinter slips and bakes her work in an electric furnace to about 1160 degrees." According to Breitbarth (2009) Cosijn always "deliberately pushed the boundaries, to explore them, to try and possibly to circumvent a ruse. In her work frontiers where crossed numerous times. For example between the two-dimensional character of the drawing and the three-dimensional data of the bowl. Or when drawing the ribs meet at a polygonal box and thus forced the corner store. Also, the creation of space is a game with the limitation: it can literally by making a hole in the wall of the bowl, but also by drawing a window, door or curtain and so as to suggest a see-through." In 1972 she was awarded the David Röell Award.
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — Vase with incised figurative decor of landscape with buildings, 1956-62 • Illustration — Candle Holder with decor of elongated humans and animals, 1957-62 • Illustration — Autism pot 1959 • Illustration — Love box, 1976
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1931
Lies Cosijn was born on 25 April 1931.
2016
Lies Cosijn died on 23 February 2016.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Mojokerto.
Birth place
Petten.
Death place
Selected publications
• Museum Boymans Van Beuningen., & Gemeentemuseum Arnhem. (1973). Catalogus van de tentoonstelling Lies Cosijn, keramiek 1956-1973, inbegrepen de potterie gemaakt op de Experimentele Afdeling van de Porceleyne Fles te Delft, in samenwerking met Jet Sielcken, Adriek Westenenk en Natasha Zaludova, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen Rotterdam, 13 oktober-26 november 1973: Gemeentemuseum Arnhem, 1 december 1973-13 januari 1974. Rotterdam. • Lies Cosijn, Dorris Kuyken-Schneider. Compassion and Poetry: Ceramics of Lies Cosijn/Compassie en Poezie: Ceramiek van Lies Cosijn. 2002
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Lies Cosijn”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q20676317: Lies Cosijn
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Schager Courant - Voor Pettemers Was Het Werk Van Overleden Lies Cosijn Meestal Gratis
- 2.Lies Cosijn at the RKD
- 3.American Ceramics. Vol. 14 (2002). p. 59
- 4.Cosijn, Lies at capriolus.nl, 2015
- 5.Breitbarth, Peggie, "Lies Cosijn blikt terug op een rijk leven als keramist," in: Keramiek april 2009; As cited in capriolus.nl, 2015.
- 6.H. Schaafsma. Aspecten van cultuurbeleid: een verzameling opstellen ter informatie en inspiratie. Samsom, 1974. p. 100
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Formation and teaching. Cosijn studied at Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs. She trained under Willem de Vries, Theo Dobbelman and Sybren Valkema. Cosijn received Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau. Cosijn worked at Amsterdam. Cosijn worked at Petten. Cosijn worked at Delft. Recorded as having studied at Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs.
Recognition and collections
Work by Lies Cosijn is
Museum Arnhem, Museum van Bommel van Dam, Design Museum Den Bosch and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Activity and practice
What Lies Cosijn did, and where
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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