Eva Zeisel, Eva Striker Zeisel

1906Born Budapest, Hungary

2011Died New York, New York

1938Immigrated to the United States

Eva Zeisel is known for designs that were produced in multiples by various factories. Her designs are characteized by clean sensuous lines.

Zeisel studied painting at Budapest's Magyar Képzőművészeti Akadémia. To support her painting, she eventually decided to pursue a more practical profession and apprenticed herself to Jakob Karapancsik, the last pottery master in the medieval guild system. She began her career as a designer for the Schramberger Majolikafabrik in the Black Forest region of Germany. She then went to Berlin and designed for the Carstens factories. After her arrival in the United States she continued to design for major ceramic industries. She is credited with over 100,000 designs throughout her long career. Many of her designs nest together, creating modular groupings that also function as space savers. Her forms are often abstractions of the natural world and human relationships and are characterized by elegant, organic and sensual curves. Zeisel developed and taught the first course in Ceramics for Industry at the Pratt Institute in New York, New York.

Public Collections

Bröhan Museum, Berlin, Germany

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York

Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York

New-York Historical Society, New York, New York

Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, New York, New York

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Bibliography

Herrup, Katharine.  “A Potter, A Pioneer, A Candlestick Maker,” The New York Sun, March 3, 2007.

Johnstone, Jyll, director. Eva Zeisel: Throwing Curves, Documentary film, Canobie Films, 2002.

McGee, Celia. "Eva’s Ardor,” Departures Magazine, March, 2007.

Young, Lucie. Eva Zeisel: The Playful Search for Beauty. New York, NY: Chronicle Books, 2003.

Zeisel, Eva. Eva Zeisel on Design. New York, NY: Overlook Press, 2004.

Southern Highland Craft Guild