Eva Zeisel was born Eva Amalia Striker in Budapest in 1906. She studied ceramics at the Hungarian Royal Academy of Fine Arts. In 1932, Zeisel moved to Russia and, in 1935, became the Artistic Director of the Russian China and Glass Trust. Shockingly, in 1936, she was falsely accused of an assassination plot against Stalin and imprisoned for 16 months. After her release in 1937, Zeisel moved to Vienna, where she joined her soon-to-be husband, Hans Zeisel (1906-1992). However, the couple quickly relocated to the US in 1938 after Hitler marched into Austria. Arriving in New York City with just $64, Zeisel sought work and soon earned a position at the Pratt Institute teaching industrial ceramics.

Zeisel’s beautiful yet functional ceramic designs were at the forefront of a shift away from the colder and more formal style of design popularized by the Bauhaus and others. Her interest in organic forms, soft lines, and how household objects related to one another set her work apart.