#eva zeisel

Eva Zeisel

Town and Country salt and pepper casters, 1946

Zeisel's 1945 Town and Country salt-and-pepper shakers were inspired by a mother cuddling her child. Image via the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Some additional designs from Zeisel's "family" of objects include the Town and Country creamer from 1945 and a baby oil pourer in the shape of a rabbit from 1940. Image via the Brooklyn Museum

"I have rarely designed objects that were meant to stand alone," Zeisel wrote. "My designs have family relationships. They are either mother and child, siblings, or cousins. They might not have identical lines, but there is always a family relationship." 

Certainly it would be hard to think of Zeisel's career without recalling an image of her popular Town and Country salt-and-pepper shakers snuggling together on the dinner table.