Acquiring Town and Country can be difficult for the casual collector. In addition to being uncommon, the pieces have no markings, so collectors must rely on recognizing the distinctive biomorphic serving pieces, tabbed handle lids, and tilted plates and bowls. Knowledge of the available colors also helps in identifying pieces. This web page should help collectors become familiar with both the shapes and colors of Town and Country.
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| chartreuse | dusk blue |
forest green |
gray | gun metal |
peach | rust | sand | white |
black that is ideally a shiny metallic color. On flatter pieces such as plates and relishes, it tends to be less shiny, more of a glossy dark brown.White is the rarest and among the more valuable of the original colors. (There was previously some uncertainty as to whether White was an original color; however, it does appear in a 1950 Red Wing brochure, and there are also white items in Eva's own collection in the _Eva Zeisel: Designer for Industry_ book.) Because of its unique properties, Gun Metal is also a highly valued color, especially if it has a good, shiny glaze. Sand seems to be the most common color, followed by Chartreuse.
Red Wing also glazed the Town and Country shapes in some other colors. (You may also find non-Town and Country pieces glazed in the original colors - be careful out there!) Of these, I have seen the ones listed below. If you have Town and Country in other colors, or have any documented information, please let me know. Mulberry, Ming Green, Quartette Chartreuse (a.k.a. Lime Green) and Copper Glow are glazes used originally on the Red Wing dinnerware line called Quartette. Copper Glow is easily mistaken for Peach, but it is more of a rose color and is not speckled like Peach. Mulberry also appears on the Iris/Concord dinnerware line. Light Blue is probably from the Driftwood/Anniversary line, or it may be an art pottery glaze.
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| copper glow |
light blue |
ming green |
mulberry | quartette chartreuse |
More recently, an additional number of Town and Country items were reissued by a different manufacturer, and made for sale at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These are currently available for ordering at the Met Store web page... go to http://www.metmuseum.org/store/index.asp and do a search for "Zeisel". These items include the teapot, 3-quart pitcher, creamer and sugar, cups and saucers, and plates and bowls. I believe these items are stamped with only "EZ" on the bottom.
Also, a large variety of both new and reissued Eva Zeisel items is available for sale at Eva Zeisel Designs, at http://www.evazeiseldesigns.com/collection.html. These include Town and Country items as well as other designs.
Again, note that these various reissued items all have an "EZ" stamp of one form or another on the bottom, while the original Red Wing pieces from the 40's/50's do not have any markings whatsoever.
Additional larger pictures are available below for a few listed items which have links... try clicking on the item name. Included with each item are the measurements and colors pictured to aid in identification. Note that the measurements for the plates, saucer and round bowls include two height measurements; this illustrates the tilting of the piece, so both the low end and high end height are measured.
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3 sizes of plates (w/soup bowl) |
covered marmite, casserole |
covered sugar bowls |
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creamer |
5x7 relishes |
mixing bowl |
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cruets with stoppers |
large platter |
bowls (w/salad plate) |
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cup and saucer |
sauce dishes |
mug (w/cup) |
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salt & pepper shakers
This set is owned by Karen Silvermintz. |
teapot |
13" salad bowl (w/pepper) |
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mustard jar with stopper This item is owned by Karen Silvermintz. |
pitchers (w/creamer) |
syrup jug |
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9x6 relish, 11" baker |
coaster |
8 1/2" salad (vegetable) bowl |
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lazy susan Item and picture by |
soup tureen with lid Item and picture by |
left & right salad spoons |
