Hasta La Ideas

It’s not uncommon for me to read a newspaper or magazine article and find myself shocked to learn that some writer or artist who did brilliant and groundbreaking work in the 1940s or ’50s (and whom I had long assumed to be dead) is still actually alive. When people stop doing what they’re known for, it’s easy to forget about them.

Yesterday Eva Zeisel, a Hungarian-born industrial designer known primarily for her elegant and minimalist ceramic designs, turned 103.

I was not at all surprised to hear that yesterday was Ms. Zeisel’s birthday. Even in recent years, it would have been nearly impossible for anyone who follows industrial design to have forgotten that she was still alive and still producing beautiful things.

In her eighties, she began designing furniture, like this coffee table:

Two years ago, when she was 101 years old, she released a new range of dinnerware, cleverly named “One-O-One,” for Royal Stafford. The line is carried by sold by Bloomingdales and it includes some absolutely beautiful pieces like this pitcher:

Happy belated birthday, Ms. Zeisel.