Styleture

Eva Zeisel, Industrial Designer

The Styleture editorial team has many heroes in the design world; perhaps none have been more of an influence on us than the late Eva Zeisel. Ms. Zeisel, a Hungarian-born industrial designer known for her work with ceramics, passed away on December 30th at the age of 105. As admirers and fans that are simply in awe of what she contributed to the design world, we’d like to take this opportunity to remember her.

Zeisel was born in Budapest in 1906 to a highly educated and intellectual Jewish family; her mom was the first woman to receive a PhD from the University of Budapest, one of her brothers was a sociologist and economist and the other a chemist and philosopher of science. Zeisel on the other hand, was more drawn towards artistic pursuits. She learned ceramics through a local guild and worked for several German manufacturers. In the late 20’s, she became a designer at Schramberger Majolikafabrik and began creating unique and geometric designs for tea sets, vases, inkwells and other ceramic pieces. Her designs were influenced by the architecture of the times. Her life was actually quite glamorous; she spent time at cafes and parties among big city intellectuals and artists. She eventually moved to Russia to work in the country’s ceramics industry, but in 1936 she was falsely accused and arrested for participating in plot to kill Joseph Stalin. She spent 16 months in prison – how’s that for suffering for your art? When she was released from prison and deported to Austria, she met up with her future husband. Shortly thereafter, they had to leave for the U.S. when the Nazis invaded the country. Read the rest of this entry »