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Raising the Curve: Designer Eva Zeisel

Accessories from Zeisel's "Classic Century" tableware line.
Accessories from Zeisel's "Classic Century" tableware line.

Swooping up and around in whimsical curves, the ceramics designs of Eva Zeisel seem to almost come alive. "I do curves because I'm curvy -- meaning I am a little bit fat," she says.

Considered one of the premier industrial designers of the 20th century, Zeisel -- at 98 -- still designs porcelain in her New York apartment. While the scarce originals of her early work have become sought-after collector's items, her signature curves can be found in the permanent collections of the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MOMA. This month, Crate & Barrel introduced "Classic Century," a reissue of some of Zeisel's 1952 china collections.

Born in Hungary in 1906, Zeisel began her career at 18 as an apprentice potter. After jobs in various ceramics factories, she traveled to Russia where she worked her way up to art director of the state china and glass industry. In 1936, she was accused of plotting against the government and imprisoned for more than a year in a Soviet prison. Her time in solitary confinement was later recounted in the novel Darkness at Noon, by her friend Arthur Koestler.

After her release, Zeisel made her way to the United States, where she began teaching ceramics arts at New York's Pratt Institute. Her fluid works quickly gained attention, establishing Zeisel as a leader in modern design.

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Jennifer Ludden helps edit energy and environment stories for NPR's National Desk, working with NPR staffers and a team of public radio reporters across the country. They track the shift to clean energy, state and federal policy moves, and how people and communities are coping with the mounting impacts of climate change.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.