Aldo Tura - Ashtray - Goat skin

Vintage pressure-driven mechanical ashtray, a celebrated classic of mid-20th-century Italian design conceived by Aldo Tura and made in Milan between the 1950s and 1960s.

Structural Features and Materials:
The lower body presents a characteristic domed and rounded silhouette. It is made of wood and clad with the designer’s distinctive technique: lacquered goat skin (vitreous parchment) in a tobacco-brown marbled tone. The glossy finish highlights the organic, natural texture of the material.

The Mechanical Component: The upper part is crafted in polished brass. It includes a beveled edge that serves as a collection tray and a vertical central shaft topped by a knob.

The Cigarette Supports: Attached to the central metal frame are two curved brass arms ending in small semicircular recesses, designed to rest the cigarettes.

Operation: This is a push-down or pressure ashtray: by pressing the knob located at the top of the central axis, the metal disc at the bottom of the tray drops and rotates, pushing ash and butts directly into the container below. This mechanism allowed visual residues to be concealed and odors from smoke to be contained within the sealed body.

The main material of the lower body is lacquered goat leather (also known as parchment), while the metallic and mechanical components are made of brass.

Here is the detail of all the materials that comprise the object:
Goat leather tinted and lacquered: Covers the entire brown surface of the domed base. This organic material was applied to the shaft and then treated with layers of transparent protective glossy lacquer (vitrification), a traditional artisanal technique typical of Aldo Tura’s creations.
Brass: Makes up the entire upper metal structure, including the top knob, the pressure mechanism, the two arched arms for resting cigarettes, and the collection tray.
Wood or composite material: Forms the hidden internal core of the base, used as a rigid support for applying and tensioning the leather.