Museum Collections

New York industrial designer Eva Zeisel (b. 1906) was born in Hungary and trained as a painter and potter. After immigrating to the United States in 1938, she achieved recognition for her industrial designs incorporating organic shapes in spare, elegant, and usable forms. This platter is from the successful "Tomorrow's Classic" dinner service, one of Zeisel's most popular designs. Beginning in 1949, Hall China Company engaged Zeisel to design a line of dinnerware that was casual and accessible to a middle-class consumer but incorporated sophisticated modern silhouettes. The pattern was initially produced in basic off-white; however, customer demand for less stark forms encouraged the addition of decorative printed decals. Zeisel’s studio assistants and industrial design students at Pratt Institute designed many decal patterns. The "Fantasy" pattern was designed by William Katavolvos, Ross Littell, and Douglas Kelly.