Carl Auböck Ice Bucket and Tongs
View Similar Items
Carl Auböck Ice Bucket and Tongs
About the Item
- Creator:Werkstätte Carl Auböck (Artist)
- Dimensions:Height: 4.53 in (11.5 cm)Diameter: 4.73 in (12 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU89104137723
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.
- Carl Auböck Vintage PitcherBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in London, GBVintage pitcher by Carl Auböck II, Vienna, 1950s. Made of handblown glass, it is covered by a band of leather which develops in a handle with hand s...Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Modern Pitchers
MaterialsLeather, Blown Glass
- Carl Auböck Coin Bottle StopperBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in London, GBVintage coin bottle stopper made by the Auböck Werkstätte in the 1950s. In cast brass, it bears the Auböck stamp on the coin. In very good condition.Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Modern Barware
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Black Leather Cork StopperBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in London, GBGreat leather bottle stopper with the original leather string.Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Modern Barware
MaterialsLeather
- Initialed Bottle Opener by Carl Auböck IIBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in London, GBA cast brass bottle opener featuring the letter U made by Carl Auböck II, Vienna circa 1955. The piece is formed of two geometric shapes, a circle -inside which the black patinate...Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Modern Barware
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Brass Key Corkscrew with ElephantBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in London, GBA cast brass corkscrew featuring an Elephant designed and made by Carl Auböck II in Vienna, Austria, in the 1950s. This item was made as an exclusive corporate gift and so is a rare ...Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Modern Barware
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Jug and Three GlassesBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in London, GBVintage set of one jug and three small glasses by Carl Auböck II, Vienna, circa 1950. Every piece of the set is made of handblown glass; every small glass has a 2,5 cm wide stripe o...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Modern Glass
MaterialsBrass
$2,255 / set
- Carl Auböck Signed Serving or Ice Tongs AustriaBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATAubock serving tongs, marked on the inside (Auböck MADE IN AUSTRIA). Made of stainless steel, attached to a wooden Handle, leather wrapp Excellent condition, most probably executed by the Amboss Manufactory in Upper Austria...Category
Mid-20th Century Austrian Barware
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Vie Silver Ice Bucket with TongsBy ZanettoLocated in Milan, ITSophisticated ice bucket complete with tongs handcrafted in a fine silver-plated alloy by master silversmith Zanetto.Category
2010s Italian Barware
MaterialsSilver
$745 / item - Silver Plate Ice Bucket and Tongs with LizardsLocated in Palm Beach, FLStandout modernist ice bucket and matching tongs crafted in silver plate on copper featuring stone clad lizard handles. Signed Wolmar Castillo Silversmiths...Category
20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsSilver Plate
- Hoya Glacier Glass Ice Bucket w/ Tongs and StrainerBy IittalaLocated in Cincinnati, OHA molded glass ice bucket in the glacier style with the look of frozen ice , having a stainless steel handle , matching tongs and bottom strainer . The perfect size for that built in bar or countertop , crafted in Japan by the Hoya Glass...Category
Mid-20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Carl Auböck Walnut Board and Cheese KnifeBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Glendale, CACarl Auböck walnut board and cheese knife. Designed in the 1950s, this incredibly refined and sculptural set includes one model #4363 serving or cutting b...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern Platters and S...
MaterialsSteel
- MCM Grass Cloth and Bamboo Ice Bucket with TongsLocated in San Diego, CAA very nice MCM grass cloth and bamboo ice bucket with tongs, circa 1970s. The set includes a pair of bamboo ice tongs and is in very good vintage condition; it measures 7.5"D x 12"H...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsGrasscloth, Bamboo