Wiener Bronze - Can - Patinated bronze - Organic style

WIENER BRONTE | Organic ashtray. Bronze, Late Bauhaus (1955)

Offered is this fantastic ashtray with an almost sculptural, organic form.

The object consists of a softly rounded, nearly triangular brass body, from which a gracefully curved, raised partition wall rises from its interior. Particularly appealing is the strong contrast between the gold-polished brass rim and the deeply dark patinated inner surfaces, on which greenish oxidation traces have formed in places.

This deliberately tense combination of polished and patinated brass makes it a piece of the Austrian design avant-garde of the post-war era.

What makes the ashtray special is its almost architectural quality: From above, the form resembles a small abstract landscape or a modernist sculpture. Even today, the object is excellent as a vidé-poche, jewelry dish, display object, or decorative brass sculpture.

The surface possesses a beautifully grown patina with age-related oxidation and signs of use. These were deliberately not removed and give the object its authentic vintage character. Not newly polished.

Material: brass / brass alloy
Era: Mid Century Modern
Dating: presumably circa 1950s–1960s
Origin: presumably Central Europe / Austria
Style: Organic Modernism / Austrian Modern / Brutalism
Attribution: Wiener Bronze
Dimensions: approx. 2 × 8 × 10 cm
Weight: approx. 278 g

An exceptionally decorative and unusual piece for collectors of Auböck, Hagenauer, Austrian postwar design, Scandinavian Modern, Brutalism, and high-quality mid-century brass design.

From a private art and design collection. Everything is packed very carefully by me!