Carl Aubock Walnut & Leather Hand Mirror & Clothes Brush, Austria, 1950s
About the Item
- Creator:Werkstätte Carl Auböck (Designer, Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 1 in (2.54 cm)Width: 9.25 in (23.5 cm)Depth: 2.25 in (5.72 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Vienna, AT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1015229191572
Werkstätte Carl Auböck
In Vienna’s Neubau district, a beautiful Biedermeier townhouse has been home to the Werkstätte Carl Auböck for more than 100 years. Inside the workshop, where production continues to this day, countless objects line the shelves, walls, tabletops and desktops.
The Viennese artist and designer Carl Auböck II was one of the quirkiest and most delightful and collectible of modern designers. A rather odd duck in the world of decorative arts, he was a peculiar talent whose specialties included smaller desk accessories and tabletop pieces such as corkscrews, paperweights, letter openers, bookends and bottle stoppers. He rendered these pieces in a combination of metal — most often brass — and such elemental materials as leather, knobby wood and animal horn, creating forms that could be almost Surrealist, from hands and feet to keys, birds and amoebae.
As a boy, Auböck was precocious and artistic. He studied drawing and at the same time trained in the workshop of his father, Karl Heinrich Auböck, a popular maker of traditional bronze figurines and collectibles. In 1919, Carl II went to Germany to study at the Bauhaus, where he was a pupil of the progressive artist and theorist Johannes Itten. While the Bauhaus is most associated with the rigidly ordered, functionalist architecture of its directors Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the school was in reality a liberal, spirited place — a crucible for imaginative, playful and avant-garde art and design. It was this spirit that imbued Carl II’s work from the time he left in 1921.
In 1922 or ’23, Carl Auböck II returned to Vienna to help care for his ailing father, and he took over the business. He created the Werkstätte Carl Auböck and a legacy that earned his objects cult status among collectors. The business was passed on to his descendants, who run the atelier that is still in operation today. Today, objects designed by Carl II make up 90 percent of Werkstätte Carl Auböck’s production, joined by the creations of architect and designer Carl IV, his grandson.
Vintage Auböck designs have a special character, a patina that only emphasizes how much the pieces have been loved and used. Carl Aubock II’s small furniture items — leather- or caned-sling magazine racks; free-edge wooden side tables with tubular bronze legs; wicker serving trolleys with turned beechwood wheels — are elegant and purposeful. His bijoux desktop objects, library tools, ashtrays and barware pieces evince a kind of mirthful practicality. They seem to ask: “If you need a corkscrew, or a paperweight, or a candlestick, why not make it fun as well as functional?” And indeed, why not?
Find a collection of vintage Werkstätte Carl Auböck mirrors, seating, tables, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Vienna, Austria
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Large Carl Aubock Midcentury Walnut Ring Clothes Brush, Austria, 1950sBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA beautiful large ring-shaped modernist wall-hung coat rack clothes brush from the 1950s. Designed and manufactured by Carl Aubock, Vienna, in the 1950s....Category
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
MaterialsGoat Hair, Wood, Walnut
- Carl Auböck Mid-Century Brass Umbrella Stand, Austria, 1950sBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA straight and beautiful Austrian umbrella stand, made of brass and cast iron. Designed and executed by Carl Auböck. A sophisticated piece, one of the most beautiful umbrella...Category
20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Umbrella Stands
MaterialsBrass, Iron
- Carl Aubock „C“ Walnut Clothes Coat Brush, Signed, Midcentury, Austria, 1960sBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA beautiful modernist clothes or coat brush in the shape of the letter C from the 1960s. Designed and executed by Carl Aubock III, Vienna/Austria. Handmade of walnut and natural hors...Category
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Desk Accessories
MaterialsWalnut
- Carl Aubock Two Large Brass Double Wall Coat Hooks #4056, Austria, 1950sBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATUp to two large charming Minimalist wall coat hooks, model #4056, designed and executed in the 1950s by Carl Aubock workshop, Vienna/Austria. These are authentic, vintage wall hooks,...Category
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Mid-Century Brass and Cast Iron Umbrella Stand, Austria, 1950sBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA straight and beautiful Austrian modernist umbrella stand, made of brass and cast iron. Designed and executed by Carl Auböck. A sophisticated piece, one of the most beautiful umbrella...Category
20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Umbrella Stands
MaterialsBrass, Iron
- Two Carl Aubock Large Brass Double Wall Coat Hooks #4056, Austria, 1950sBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATUp to two large charming Minimalist wall coat hooks, model #4056, designed and executed in the 1950s by Carl Aubock workshop, Vienna/Austria. These are authentic, vintage wall hooks...Category
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Model #4903 Polished Brass HookBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Glendale, CACarl Auböck Model #4903 polished brass hook. Designed in the 1950s, this versatile and Minimalist Viennese hook is executed in polished brass by Werkstätte Carl Auböck, Austria. Pr...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern Wall Brackets
MaterialsBrass
- Fish Enamelled Arts on Metal Console Design by Siva Poggibonsi, 1950sBy Siva PoggibonsiLocated in London, GBConsole wooden structure, decor enamel on copper fish patterns. Italian design by Siva Poggibonsi 1950sCategory
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsMetal
- Carl Auböck Model #4994 Patinated Brass HookBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Glendale, CACarl Auböck Model #4994 patinated brass hook. Designed in the 1950s, this versatile and Minimalist Viennese hook is executed in patinated brass by Werkstätte Carl Auböck, Austria. ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern Wall Brackets
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Model #4903 Patinated Brass HookBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Glendale, CACarl Auböck Model #4903 patinated brass hook. Designed in the 1950s, this versatile and Minimalist Viennese hook is executed in patinated brass by Werkstätte Carl Auböck, Austria. ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern Wall Brackets
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Model #4994 Polished Brass HookBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Glendale, CACarl Auböck Model #4994 polished brass hook. Designed in the 1950s, this versatile and Minimalist Viennese hook is executed in polished brass by Werkstätte Carl Auböck, Austria. Pr...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern Wall Brackets
MaterialsBrass
- 19th Century Renaissance Style Wall Magazine Rack in Hand Carved WalnutLocated in Casale Monferrato, ITBeautiful Italian renaissance style wall magazine rack, 1880. Made of solid walnut wood. Characterized by a refined and elaborate decoration carved in the wood. Many decorative eleme...Category
Antique 1880s Italian Renaissance Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsWalnut
