Austrian Modernist Brass Ashtray with Bottle Opener by Carl Auböck
View Similar Items
Austrian Modernist Brass Ashtray with Bottle Opener by Carl Auböck
About the Item
- Creator:Werkstätte Carl Auböck (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 3.55 in (9 cm)Width: 4.34 in (11 cm)Depth: 2.37 in (6 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Vienna, AT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU105062725992
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.
- Austrian Midcentury Brass Key Corc Screw or Bottle Opener by Carl AuböckBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA sculptural Midcentury corkscrew and bottle opener combination from the 1950s. In the shape of a large key, designed by Carl Aubock, executed b...Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsBrass
$410 Sale Price50% Off - Austrian Midcentury Steel and Leather Fish Bottle Opener by Carl AuböckBy Bestecke Solingen, Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATThis charming fish shaped stainless steel and cognac brown leather bottle opener has been designed by Carl Auböck, Modell Nr. 4687. Produved by Solingen Germany...Category
Vintage 1960s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsStainless Steel
$429 Sale Price42% Off - Austrian Midcentury Steel and Leather Fish Bottle Opener Neptun by Carl AuböckBy Bestecke Solingen, Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATThis charming fish shaped stainless steel and brown leather bottle opener has been designed by Carl Auböck in the 1960s Modell Nr. 4687, Neptun. It comes with its original cardboard box. This one has been produced in Germany as a special company gift. On the leather you will find impressed Zinkweiss and the steel is marked Solingen Germany...Category
Vintage 1960s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsStainless Steel
$420 Sale Price39% Off - Austrian Midcentury Horn Salad Servers by Carl Auböck ViennaBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATPair of Austrian modernist horn salad servers designed and manufactured by Carl Aubo¨ck Vienna.Category
Vintage 1960s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
MaterialsHorn
$199 Sale Price / set80% Off - Italian Midcentury Brass, Metal and Ceramic Tripod Floor AshtrayBy Ico ParisiLocated in Vienna, ATThis amazing Midcentury tripod standing ashtray has been designed and manufactured in Italy 1950s. It features a tripod stand with brass details and a ceramic ashtray. It will be a p...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Austrian Midcentury Brass Pipe Holder by Carl AuböckBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATAustrian 1950s pipe stand by Carl Auböck.Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern More Dining and Entertaining
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck 'Carolus VI' Brass Bottle OpenerBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in London, GBCast brass bottle opener by the Auböck Werkstätte, Vienna, circa 1960. The piece is shaped as a coin to which the actual bottle opener is attached...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Midcentury Brass Shovel Ashtray with Handle, Austria, 1950sBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA very beautiful and solid polished brass modernist ashtray with handle in the shape of a shovel, designed and executed by Carl Auböck in the 1...Category
20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Brass Ashtray, Model 3317, Austria 1935By Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Den Haag, NLCarl Auböck brass ashtray, model 3317, Austria 1935.Category
Vintage 1930s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Ashtray, Austria 1960sBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Berlin, DECarl Auböck Ashtray, Austria 1960s.Category
Vintage 1960s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Ashtray, Austria 1960sBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Berlin, DECarl Auböck Ashtray, Austria 1960s.Category
Vintage 1960s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Ashtray, Austria 1960sBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Berlin, DECarl Auböck Ashtray, Austria 1960s.Category
Vintage 1960s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsBrass