The ceramic Bellybutton Space Divider is an iconic, but extremely rare example of the innovative and imaginative work of the pioneering industrial designer, Eva Zeisel. Zeisel’s biography reads like a spy novel. Born in Budapest to a family of prominent Jewish scientists, the ambitious young artist pursued a career in art, first in painting, then ceramics. She secured jobs at ceramics workshops in Hamburg, Berlin, then Soviet Russia, enjoying a progressive, independent, and glamorous lifestyle among intellectuals wherever she lived. This all came to a screeching halt in 1936 when she was falsely accused of plotting against Stalin and spent 16 months in prison. After her release, she fled Europe to escape the war, arriving in the United States in 1937. Undeterred by her experiences, Zeisel landed a teaching position at Pratt Institute and developed a successful design studio focusing on organic modernism in New York. She attracted numerous commissions for production ceramics, including her elegant Museum line for Castleton (debuted at MoMA in 1946). Once established in the United States, she also expanded her range of materials to include metals, wood, glass, and plastics.

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