Zeisel, Eva (b. 1906)

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Zeisel, Eva (b. 1906)

Hungarian-born American ceramist and designer. Name variations: Eva Polanyi Stricker. Born Nov 11, 1906, in Budapest, Hungary; studied painting under Vaszari at Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, 1923–25; m. Hans Zeisel (sociologist and lawyer), in 1938; children: John and Jean.

Apprenticed at Yakob Karpanscik's pottery, Budapest (1924–25); worked for several ceramic manufacturers in Budapest (1925–32); was freelance designer and art director for 3 companies in Leningrad (1932–37); arrested and expelled to Germany under Stalin's orders (1937), escaped to Great Britain (1938), then traveled to US; freelanced out of New York and Chicago for a variety of manufacturers, including Red Wing Pottery, Hall China Company, Rosenthal Porcelain, Loza Gina, Manioli, Noritake, Nikkon Toki, Zsolnay Factory, and others; also taught industrial design at Pratt Institute (1939–53) and Rhode Island School of Design (1954); was commissioned by Museum of Modern Art (1946) to design a set of china called "Museum Shape," for the Castleton China firm, the 1st contemporary, translucent, porcelain dinnerware produced in the US for a general audience.

See also Women in World History.