He began his working life at the age of 15 by taking a textile design course and subsequently finding employment devising colour schemes at a local necktie factory, a company that was blacklisted in Nazi Germany and shut down in 1933.

After winning the silver medal on March 11 of that year, the couple married in June and fled Vienna for Los Angeles in September, with the help of Otto's cousin.

Gertrud's forms were reminiscent of the Vienna Secessionist movement, while Otto perfected over 2,000 colours and styles of glazes.

Otto initially refused to glaze the last set of pots that Gertrud had thrown, but Reynolds soon convinced him to return to his work.

After being described as "vital and active" from a rigorous exercise program well into his 90s, Natzler succumbed to cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 99.