If you live near Washington, have any interest in design, and you haven’t yet been to the Hillwood Museum to see the Eva Zeisel exhibit, you must go soon. This is one of the best temporary exhibits I’ve seen in a long while, and it closes after December 4.
Eva Zeisel, now considered one of the twentieth century’s great industrial designers, was born in Hungary in 1906. After beginning her career there, she went to the Soviet Union from 1932 through 1936 and designed porcelain and china for the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory in the twenties and thirties. While her earlier tableware designs done in Germany for the Schramberger Majolika factory are charming Deco-influenced designs, the later work she did for Lomonosov 1933 Intourist tea service were fairly horrible in my opinion. Chunky shapes that were designed to be easily shipped, views of monumental statues of Lenin, ugh. I can’t imagine wanting to see Lenin waving his right arm over my breakfast table every day. After years of work at Lomonosov, the Soviets accused her of being anti-Stalinist and threw her into prison for more than a year, much of it spent in solitary confinement. Friends negotiated for her release, and she emigrated shortly thereafter to the United States, where most of her best work has been done (in my opinion).
Take a look at the photo above, which shows the smooth curving forms of her well-named Classic Century table service. This service is still available through Crate and Barrel. It virtually defines the term modern, but despite the pure white, un-filigreed forms, the shapes are organic and warm. This kind of design never goes out of style. She followed it with the Town and Country collection. These colors and forms seem trendier to me and more closely linked to mid-century styles and tastes. But you can’t help but smile when you see the salt and pepper shakers of this set, consciously modeled after the protective outlines of a mother with her child.
Eva Zeisel is still alive and still working in her New York studio. I wish I could afford some of her most recent work. She’s now working once more with the Lomonosov factory, and the new table service designed for them is in a smooth, transparent white porcelain with more of her signature organic shapes that just beg to be held. Hillwood is the first museum to acquire and exhibit the complete new design.
Eva Zeisel: The Playful Search for Beauty will be shown at the Hillwood Museum & Gardens through December 4. The Hillwood Museum is the former home of Marjorie Merriweather Post, and houses her extensive collection of Russian art and French furniture. Reservations are required to visit the museum. Call 1-877-HILLWOOD, or go to the museum website at www.hillwoodmuseum.org.
Hillwood Museum & Gardens
4155 Linnean Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00 am–5:00 pm. Closed in January
Admission: Adults $12, Seniors $10, Students $7, Children 6–18, $5
To learn more about Eva Zeisel, an excellent place to begin is the Eva Zeisel Forum, which has a website with an extensive list of links to other sites that discuss or sell her designs.
[...] In addition to the permanent collection in the mansion house, the museum sometimes has temporary exhibits that are relevant to the Hillwood’s focus on porcelain and decorative arts. Last year, for example, the Hillwood hosted a special show of elegant porcelain designed by 20th century modernist Eva Zeisel, who began her long career in Russia. (I wrote about that show last fall, see the post here.) [...]