Rudolf Staffel (born 1911 San Antonio, Texas - 2002 Alfred, New York) was an American ceramic artist and arts educator. Initially he wanted to be a painter, and early on attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. While there, an exhibition of Wiener Werkstätte at the Field Museum of History, captivated him with its glass art.

Staffel briefly moved to Mexico to study glass blowing, and while there fell in love with ceramics at The National Archeological Museum in Mexico City. His early ceramics were in a mid-century studio style, with traditional forms and glazes, although sometimes with social commentary and often with references to Native American, Asian and Scandinavian ceramic traditions. In the 1940s, he studied with H...