1994.11.6 Eva Zeisel, “Tomorrow’s Classic” shape ladle with "Dawn" pattern decoration from the "Hallcraft"line

Eva Zeisel designed Tomorrow’s Classic around 1950, following the success of her Museum and Town and Country tableware lines. However, it languished until it finally found a champion in Charles Seliger of Commercial Decal, who was in search of a contemporary shapes upon which his firm could place its decals. Hall China Company agreed to produce the line, and from 1951 to about 1960, Tomorrow’s Classic was available in various glazed and printed decorative schemes. Zeisel’s contract stipulated that she supply nine decal patterns initially and an additional three each following year. Some, such as Dawn and Arizona, were created by Seliger, while others, like Frost Flowers and Fantasy, were designed by Zeisel’s studio assistants or her students at the Pratt Institute. 

Charles L. Venable, China and Glass in America 1880-1980 (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art: New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2000), 462. 

Until 1994: David T. Owsley, New York, New York [1]  

From 1994: Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the above [1] 

[1] See Dallas Musuem of Art Deed of Gift (dated April 2, 1994, copy in Collections Records Object File).