The collection
Two ceramic vessels. One pale green, slightly bulbous cylinder with a leaf-like opening at the top, the other terra-cotta colored spherical shape with a handle protruding over the opening at the top.
1945

Two Pitchers, Town & Country

Designed by
Eva Zeisel (1906–2011)
Material
Glazed earthenware
Produced by
Red Wing Pottery, Red Wing, Minnesota
Dimensions
14.5 x 11 x 10 cm | 19 x 17 x 16 cm

The Liliane and David M. Stewart Program for Modern Design, gift of Dr. Michael Sze, 2009.3.1–2

Hungarian-born ceramist Eva Zeisel worked in Germany before moving to Russia in 1932 where she was named Artistic Director of the China and Glass Industry of the Russian Republic. In 1938 she immigrated to New York, where she designed ceramic lines for various factories, including the Town & Country dinnerware line for the Red Wing Pottery. The rounded organic forms were intended for America’s informal lifestyle and offered in colors that could be mixed and matched.

In 1983, the Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts approached her to organize an exhibition on her work that inspired her to return to ceramic design, which she continued until her death at the age of 105.

The Stewart Program for Modern Design, photo: Denis Farley.