Ashtray - Bronze - Bronze ashtray

Ashtray / Decorative catch-all tray in solid bronze with a bucolic scene - Hassler Foundry Naples production
Splendid decorative bronze plate, used as a prestigious ashtray / living-room catch-all tray, vintage Italian production.
Iconographic description:
The plate features a high-quality embossed work:
• Border: richly decorated with a continuous vine tendril with leaves and bunches of grapes in high relief, on a hand-pitted background. The outer edge is scalloped with 20 octagonal lobes, typical of the neoclassical taste.
• Center: central medallion with a pastoral scene inspired by Pompeian / Arcadian styles in Grand Tour fashion. It depicts a young shepherd-hunter with staff and game on his shoulders and his hunting dog, in conversation with a seated woman with a child in her lap. In the background a brick wall and a tree. Finely chased scene.
The back, rough from casting as in photo no.1, shows the typical irregularities of artisanal bronze casting and a beautiful patina with traces of green oxidation, which confirms its authenticity and age.
Technique and material:
Lost-wax / sand-casting in solid bronze. Heavy bronze, full sound, not modern lightweight bronze. Original golden/brown patina, not polished.
TECHNICAL DETAILS - fill these fields for Catawiki
• Material: Solid bronze
• Technique: Handcrafted relief casting
• Estimated period: 1950-1970 (Mid-century vintage)
• Style: Neoclassical / Pompeian Revival /
• Signature: Unmarked, as is usual for serial artistic-foundry productions of the era
• Condition: Good vintage condition. Original patina preserved. Minor oxidation / verdigris at some points on the edge and back, consistent with age. No cracks, no repairs, no invasive restorations. Minimal wear to the central cord. See detailed photos, which are an integral part of the description.
PROVENANCE AND HISTORY - This is the part that makes the difference
Provenance certified by family history.
This ashtray comes directly from the ancient Hassler Art Foundry in Naples, a historic Neapolitan foundry specialized in artistic bronzes, furniture, and classic reproductions, now no longer in existence.
My uncle, Raffaele Hassler, was a partner of the foundry, and the piece has remained in our family since then.
A rare testament to a now-disappeared Neapolitan manufactory, highly sought after by collectors of Neapolitan memorabilia and Grand Tour bronzes.