Set of Four Carl Auböck Brass Objects
About the Item
- Creator:Werkstätte Carl Auböck (Designer, Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 3.5 in (8.89 cm)Diameter: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 4
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Contemporary
- Production Type:New & Custom(Current Production)
- Estimated Production Time:Available Now
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Glendale, CA
- Reference Number:
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: Glendale, CA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Carl Auböck Model #3844 Brass BowlBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Glendale, CACarl Auböck model #3844 brass bowl. Designed in the 1950s, this incredibly refined and sculptural Viennese bowl is executed in polished and darkly patinated brass. Originally conceiv...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Model #4317 Brass BowlBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Glendale, CACarl Auböck Model #4317 brass bowl. Designed in the 1950s, this incredibly refined and sculptural Viennese bowl is executed in polished and darkly patinated brass. Originally conceived as a fountain pen...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsBrass
- Set of Three Carl Auböck Brass BowlsBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Glendale, CASet of three Carl Auböck brass bowls. Includes one each of Models #3904, #3844 & #4082. Designed in the 1950s, these incredibly refined and sculptural Viennese bowls are executed in ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Model #4630 Large Brass BookendsBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Glendale, CACarl Aubo¨ck model #4630 large brass bookends. Designed in the 1950s, this incredibly refined and sculptural pair of bookends are executed in polished brass. Price is for the pair....Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern Bookends
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Model #4273 'Foot' Brass PaperweightBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Glendale, CACarl Auböck model #4273 'Foot' brass paperweight. Designed in the 1950s, this incredibly clean and refined Viennese paperweight is hand fabricated in polished brass by Werkstätte Car...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern Paperweights
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Model #4223 'Hand' Brass PaperweightBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Glendale, CACarl Aubo¨ck Model #4223 'Hand' brass paperweight. Designed in the 1950s, this incredibly clean and refined Viennese paperweight is hand fabricated in polished brass by Werkstätte Ca...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern Paperweights
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Model #3794 'Aorta' Brass VaseBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Chalk Hill, PACarl Aubo¨ck Model #3794 'Aorta' Brass Vase. This exceptionally crafted vase by Carl Aubock is a wonderful example of the marriage of form and functionality that has made the Aubock ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsBrass
- Fine vintage Carl Auböck Leather and Brass paper basket, Austria 1950sBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Berlin, DEFine vintage Carl Auböck Leather and Brass waste paper basket in good original condition.Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Baskets
MaterialsBrass
- Solid Brass Waste Can with Asian Depictions on Four SidesLocated in Los Angeles, CASolid brass square waste can with different Asian depictions of bamboo, birds on all four sides. The can has a graceful curve from the top to the base - very nice design to complimen...Category
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Decorative Baskets
MaterialsBrass
- Onyx Agate Jewelry Dish Decorative ObjectLocated in New York, NYA neutral onyx agate dish, decorative object, or small bowl/vessel. Piece can work as a small jewelry/trinket dish, a standalone decorative piece, or paperweight/desk accessory for s...Category
20th Century Organic Modern Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
MaterialsAgate, Onyx
- Carl Aubock Set of Smoking AccessoriesBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Chicago, ILBrass and Wicker Wrapped pipe stand (Or Paperweight) with two brass spoon rests.Category
Vintage 1940s Austrian Modern Paperweights
MaterialsBrass
- Set of Three Bowls by Carl AuböckBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Berlin, DESet of three bowls by Carl Auböck #4279, #4280 and #4317 Measures: 28 cm x 5 cm x 3 cm 8 cm x 6 cm x 3 cm 4 cm x 7 cm diameter.Category
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsBrass