This iconic Bauhaus Ashtray was originally designed in 1924 by Marianne Brandt. The model was reproduced in 1995 by Alessi under license from the Bauhaus Archiv in Berlin. As the design of the Ashtray can be considered as a true Bauhaus object it nurtures a great history. Founded in 1919 in Weimar, Bauhaus (house of Building) was a German school of arts, architecture and applied arts that at the time represented all the emerging avant-gardes in these fields. Bauhaus emphasizes the quest for a ''pure and hard'' design process and technique based on the principle: ''Art and Technology: a new unity''. The high quality, radical approach to design and the characters who taught and studied at the school makes Bauhaus at the origin of the modern movement in design and architecture. The ashtray is in a new and unused condition delivered with original packaging and small Bauhaus book (see picture). Marianne Brandt: Marianne Brandt (1893-1983) was born in Chemnitz Germany and afterwards studied painting and sculpture in Weimar. Brandt occupied a special position since she was the only woman who took part in the Metallwerkstatt of the Bauhaus. Given her curiosity and research to further simplify the industrial processes, Brandt's design objects are now recognized as among the best of the Weimar and Dessau Bauhaus.