Carl Auböck Werkstätte glasses & carafe on tray
About the Item
- Creator:Werkstätte Carl Auböck (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 0.79 in (2 cm)Width: 9.06 in (23 cm)Depth: 9.06 in (23 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Vienna, AT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5423237531022
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.
- Key Cork Screw, Brass, Carl Auböck Vienna, AustriaBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA cork screw made of brass in shape on a key by Carl Auböck.Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Barware
MaterialsBrass
- Green Cork Screw, Horn, Carl Auböck Vienna, AustriaBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA cork screw made of green horn by Carl Auböck.Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Barware
MaterialsMetal
- Corkscrew, Horn and Metal, Carl Auböck Vienna, AustriaBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA corkscrew, handle made of horn by Carl Auböck.Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Barware
MaterialsMetal
- Key Cork Screw, Brass, Carl Auböck Vienna, AustriaBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA cork screw in shape of a key by Carl Auböck.Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Barware
MaterialsBrass
- Kelomat Cork Screw, Brass, Carl Auböck Vienna, AustriaBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA Kelomat cork screw made of brass by Carl Auböck.Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Barware
MaterialsBrass
- Fish Bottle Opener, Metal, Carl Auböck Vienna, AustriaBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA bottle opener by Carl Auböck in shape of a fish.Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Barware
MaterialsMetal
- Rare Werkstätte Carl Auböck Bronze, Cane and Art Glass Wine DecanterBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Las Vegas, NVearly 1950's Werkstätte Carl Auböck bronze, cane and glass wine decanter. Marked "11" on stand end. Prototype, circa 1950's. Excellent condition.Category
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsBronze
- Carl Auböck Fondue ForksBy Amboss Austria, Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in San Diego, CACarl Auböck fondue forks for Amboss. With original box. Made in Austria. Stamped on the forks,Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsStainless Steel
- 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
- Original Brass Carl Auböck KorkscrewBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATThis beautiful and unique corkscrew is made from stainless steel and features a brass handle with an antique coin replica. Design by Austrian Bauhaus designer Carl Auböck and crafted...Category
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsStainless Steel, Brass
- Carl Aubock Rare Barware DecanterBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Chicago, ILCarl Auböck Rare Barewear Decanter, cork top, mahogany wood with leather embossed clock face image. Werkstätte Carl Auböck Austria, c. 1950 glass, embossed leather with gilding, cork...Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsGlass, Mahogany, Cork
- Carl Auböck Pitcher, Austria, 1960sBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Berlin, DECarl Auböck pitcher, Austria 1960s. The width of the item including the handle is 18 cm.Category
Vintage 1960s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsLeather, Glass