Carl Aubock Jug
Vintage 1950s Danish Modern Glass
Brass
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Brass
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Glass
Glass
People Also Browsed
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary French Art Deco Table Lamps
Marble, Spelter
Mid-20th Century French Neoclassical Benches
Bronze, Wrought Iron
2010s Austrian Jugendstil Chandeliers and Pendants
Silk
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
Textile, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Organic Modern Center Tables
Travertine
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Dining Room Chairs
Linen, Rattan, Walnut
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Decorative Bowls
Blown Glass
2010s Italian Crystal Serveware
Crystal
Late 20th Century Post-Modern Barware
Art Glass, Blown Glass
Vintage 1970s Italian Decorative Bowls
Murano Glass
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Vases
Ceramic, Majolica, Pottery
Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Barware
Blown Glass
Vintage 1920s French Art Deco Decorative Bowls
Glass
Vintage 1960s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Pitchers
Plastic, Teak
Recent Sales
Vintage 1950s Austrian Serving Pieces
Brass, Tin
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Barware
Leather, Blown Glass
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Brass
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Barware
Brass
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Pitchers
Brass
Vintage 1950s Austrian Modern Desk Sets
Blown Glass, Leather
Vintage 1950s Austrian Modern Pitchers
Brass
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Glass
Leather, Glass
Vintage 1950s Austrian Tea Sets
Brass
Vintage 1930s Austrian Bauhaus Tableware
Brass, Copper
20th Century Austrian Pitchers
Leather
Vintage 1950s Austrian Modern Pitchers
Glass, Leather
Vintage 1960s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Pitchers
Leather, Glass
Werkstätte Carl Auböck for sale on 1stDibs
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.
Finding the Right Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass for You
Your dining room table is a place where stories are shared and personalities shine — why not treat yourself and your guests to the finest antique and vintage glass, silver, ceramics and serveware for your meals?
Just like the people who sit around your table, your serveware has its own stories and will help you create new memories with your friends and loved ones. From ceramic pottery to glass vases, set your table with serving pieces that add even more personality, color and texture to your dining experience.
Invite serveware from around the world to join your table settings. For special occasions, dress up your plates with a striking Imari charger from 19th-century Japan or incorporate Richard Ginori’s Italian porcelain plates into your dining experience. Celebrate the English ritual of afternoon tea with a Japanese tea set and an antique Victorian kettle. No matter how big or small your dining area is, there is room for the stories of many cultures and varied histories, and there are plenty of ways to add pizzazz to your meals.
Add different textures and colors to your table with dinner plates and pitchers of ceramic and silver or a porcelain lidded tureen, a serving dish with side handles that is often used for soups. Although porcelain and ceramic are both made in a kiln, porcelain is made with more refined clay and is more durable than ceramic because it is denser. The latter is ideal for statement pieces — your tall mid-century modern ceramic vase is a guaranteed conversation starter. And while your earthenware or stoneware is maybe better suited to everyday lunches as opposed to the fine bone china you’ve reserved for a holiday meal, handcrafted studio pottery coffee mugs can still be a rich expression of your personal style.
“My motto is ‘Have fun with it,’” says author and celebrated hostess Stephanie Booth Shafran. “It’s yin and yang, high and low, Crate & Barrel with Christofle silver. I like to mix it up — sometimes in the dining room, sometimes on the kitchen banquette, sometimes in the loggia. It transports your guests and makes them feel more comfortable and relaxed.”
Introduce elegance at supper with silver, such as a platter from celebrated Massachusetts silversmith manufacturer Reed and Barton or a regal copper-finish flatware set designed by International Silver Company, another New England company that was incorporated in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1898. By then, Meriden had already earned the nickname “Silver City” for its position as a major hub of silver manufacturing.
At the bar, try a vintage wine cooler to keep bottles cool before serving or an Art Deco decanter and whiskey set for after-dinner drinks — there are many possibilities and no wrong answers for tableware, barware and serveware. Explore an expansive collection of antique and vintage glass, ceramics, silver and serveware today on 1stDibs.