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.
Carl Aubock Modernist Cast Iron Chess Game Set with Handmade Leather Board
By Werkstätte Carl Auböck
Located in Vienna, AT
A very exceptional and beautiful Minimalist Mid-Century Modern chess game, model #5606, designed by Carl Aubock III in 1969. Executed by Werkstätte Aub...
Iron, Nickel
$37,559
H 8.67 in W 19.69 in D 19.69 in
Italian Sterling Silver Chess Board, Chess Game, Sodalite Marble
By Arval Argenti Valenza
Located in VALENZA, IT
Impressive sterling silver chess board medieval style chess set. The chess board, made by ARVAL ARGENTI VALENZA, was made in white marble and sodalite is supported by a STERLING SILVER frame made with the casting method and finished with a chisel, subsequently burnished and reproducing the bricks of a wall of a fortress. This "frame" is supported at the four horses two tone...
Marble, Sterling Silver
$1,040
H 2.5 in W 15 in D 15 in
Vintage Chinese Hand-Carved Wood Figural Chess Set with Folding Game Board
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
A wonderfully sculptural vintage hand-carved figural chess set, featuring an elaborate folding wooden game board and a remarkable collection of individually carved playing pieces. M...
Wood
Set of Five Carl Auböck Brass Figurine Keyrings
By Werkstätte Carl Auböck
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Set of four Carl Auböck brass figurine keyrings. Includes model #4500 'Pig', model #5607 'Donkey', model #5663 'Shell', model #5734 'Hand and model #7151 'Anchor'. Designed in the ...
Brass
Carl Aubock Brass Cigar Snuffer #4117
By Werkstätte Carl Auböck
Located in Chalk Hill, PA
Carl Aubock brass cigar snuffer #4117. Produced by Carl Auböck IV in the original Auböck workshop in Vienna, Austria using the same standards, high-quality materials, molds and techn...
Brass
$140 / item
H 1.75 in W 0.75 in D 0.163 in
Carl Auböck Model #5615 'Star' Solid Brass Keyring with Signature
By Werkstätte Carl Auböck
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Carl Auböck Model #5615 'Star' solid brass keyring with signature. Designed in the 1950s, this incredibly refined and sculptural object is hand fabrica...
Brass
Carl Auböck Leather and Cast Iron Chess Set #5606
By Werkstätte Carl Auböck
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Carl Auböck Leather and Cast Iron Chess Set #5606 Authorized re-edition of a design originally produced by Carl Auböck III. This set is handmade in the original Auböck workshop in t...
Iron, Nickel
$2,990 / item
H 3.23 in W 14.57 in D 14.57 in
Mid-Century Modern Chess Set by Werkstätte Carl Auböck, Austria
By Werkstätte Carl Auböck
Located in Berlin, DE
A chessboard made from black and natural leather with 32 nickel pieces. Designed in the 1950s by Carl Auböck. Made in Vienna.
Nickel
Gucci Leather Travel Multi-Game Set, 1980s Italy
By Gucci
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage portable Gucci leather game case with chess, checkers and backgammon. Wood framed case wrapped in an elegant canvas with leather accents. Canvas features a repeating sequence of the Gucci interlocking "G" motif while the sides are wrapped in saddle leather. The face of the case is decorated with a red and green cotton strap across the front that is fastened in the middle by an iconic Gucci horse bit in brass. Case comes with a functioning key, black and white chess pieces, black and white checkers with Gucci logo on each, red and green backgammon chips...
Metal
$4,199Sale Price|30% Off
H 2.37 in W 14.97 in D 14.97 in
FORNASETTI Rare Large Chess and Dominoes Board Game Set Box
By Piero Fornasetti, Fornasetti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage board game set box for Dal Negro by Piero Fornasetti, made in Italy in the 1970s. The box is made in walnut wood, and it includes chess game, dominoes, checkers game, card ga...
Wood
$1,950
H 2.25 in W 18 in D 18 in
Italian Roman-Style Chess Set Cast Metal and Leather Leather Board Circa 1960
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
Large Italian Roman-Style Chess & Checkers Set Cast Metal and Leather Leather Board, circa 1960 A distinguished large mid-century Italian chess showcasing finely cast metal figures inspired by classical Roman iconography. The sculptural chessmen—depicting soldiers, horses, and architectural elements—are rendered in a substantial metal alloy, offering both weight and presence. The accompanying board is crafted in embossed brown leather with contrasting squares and hand-stitched edging, backed in rich red velour. The original molded velour tray is included, along with a full set of vintage checkers...
Leather
Vintage Walnut Chess Set with Folding Board
Located in New York, NY
A luxury walnut chess set. Board folds in half for easy transport and to store chess pieces. Carved wood pieces are crafted in light and dark tones for each player. USA, circa 1...
Wood, Walnut
Carl Auböck Brass Industrial Style Chess Set
By Werkstätte Carl Auböck
Located in Toledo, OH
Industrial style brass chess set by Carl Auböck circa 1965, Model 5055 in polished brass and patinated brass. Tallest piece is 4 1/" tall, shortest is 1 5/8" tall.
Brass
$3,585Sale Price / set|25% Off
H 5.71 in W 24.02 in D 24.02 in
Carl Auböck modern wooden chess set for Werkstätte Auböck, Austria Vienna 1960´s
By Werkstätte Carl Auböck
Located in Zevenaar, NL
Very rare, extra large minimalist wooden chess set of the 1960´s by Carl Auböck for Werkstätte (workshop) Carl Auböck, Black and white painted beech wood, original paint, non restau...
Wood, Beech, Paint
Leather & Brass Humidor #3617 by Carl Auböck II, 1940s
By Werkstätte Carl Auböck
Located in London, GB
A leather-clad, brass-lidded humidor, designed by Carl Aubock II during the 1950s. The combination of brass and leather is typical of the designs by the second-generation Carl Aubö...
Brass
$3,300
H 31.11 in W 27.17 in D 27.17 in
Games Chess Set of Handcrafted and Painted Wood Pieces with Table and Board
Located in Antwerp, BE
Rare Italian chess table set from early 20th century in carved, lacquered, gilded and hand painted wood with very pleasant floral decorations. Me...
Wood