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I agree. This glaze is
I agree. This glaze is absolutely brilliant.
I love the way the hand has to become intimately involved in the act of pouring cream--it's so experiential.
Another great handleless creamer by Eva.
And the glazes, by Eva's own
And the glazes, by Eva's own recounting, had nothing to do with her. Apparently the artisans at Riverside included a brilliant glaze master. Pat Moore thought this creamer's glaze was a failed experiment--many of the pieces I bought from Pat were seconds sold by the estate of the woman who bought them from the factory in the '40s. I love this second if it is one!
This is quite a sensual and intimate piece to use and handle. It also has another unusual and playful feature--the bottom is rounded so that it rocks somewhat on the table! Only Eva...
Thinking about it, did Eva
Thinking about it, did Eva ever claim to create or 'design' a solid glaze decoration? I can't recall an instance--do you or does anyone recall such an instance? Of course, Russel Wright oversaw the creation of glazes--but I think they were actually formulated by others. I think Eva was mostly concerned with shapes and, of course, some patterns. You should see one of the glaze decorations I have on a hip flask with a shape by Eva, but purportedly a glaze by World of Ceramics.
The rocking creamer is an interesting feature. Would you say that that was the first instance of such in a creamer? Was it just being playful, an ergonomic feature, or did it serve some other purpose?
The rocking feature
I think the rocking feature facilitated by the rounded bottom was quite unusual if not new. This was what the press most often noted when they mentioned this design.
In a 1947 interview with Eugenia Sheppard of the New York Herald Tribune Eva Zeisel indicated that this was done “just for the fun of it.” In later years Zeisel has indicated that the rounding of the bases also helps in “making them complete, rather than cut-off shapes” and makes them appear light and “as though they were floating.” Design historian Karen Kettering cited the element of motion this innovation added to the table for the first time. Kettering described it as “a radical departure in tableware design.”
The creamer was one of the 100 objects selected by the Museum of Modern Art for there annual design show held in late 1947. These annual exhibitions were precursers to the Good Design exhibitions of the first half of the 1950s. Mary Roche of the New York Times noted Zeisel’s designs i her review of the show and again pointed to their novel movement on the table: “A group of new designs in porcelain by Eva Zeisel includes a fish-shaped nut dish and a cream pitcher both of which are shaped so that they rock back and forth—just for fun—but do not tip over.” Roche also mentioned they were available at Wanamaker’s for under $5. The design innovations of the Riverside pieces were not celebrated by all. In its review of the exhibition Art News listed objects that the reviewer would like to purchase and singled out Zeisel’s designs not to be included in this group: “Rigidly excluded would be Eva Zeisel’s creamer (Riverside Ceramic Co.; $3.50) because breakfast is hard enough a ritual without creamers which have no handles.”
It seems Eva was probably a bit too playful for most American consumers...
Bucking tradition always
Bucking tradition always makes feathers fly.
I'm looking at an ad from
I'm looking at an ad from Giftwares and Housewares Magazine from July 1947. It pictures two of these creamers facing each other. The ad reads as follows:
Riverside
new fine china
Informal Dinnerware and Decorative Accessories
Lovely iridescent glazes on fine china. First shown
at Los Angeles Show and New York Showrooms July 27
Richards Morganthau [the raymor people], 225 Fifth Avenue
New York, National Distributors not including the
West Coast. Lane, Reife and Sapiro, Inc., distributors
for the West Coast. Brockman Building, Los Angeles
The word 'iridescent' is probably an apt description for this piece.
That glaze *is* great.
That glaze *is* great.