Brass Key Corkscrew by Carl Aubock
About the Item
- Creator:Werkstätte Carl Auböck (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 5.75 in (14.61 cm)Width: 2.75 in (6.99 cm)Depth: 2.75 in (6.99 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:2021
- Production Type:New & Custom(Current Production)
- Estimated Production Time:Available Now
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Sag Harbor, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU940933027792
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: Wainscott, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Brass and Cane Letter Opener by Carl AubockBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Sag Harbor, NYFor five generations the design house of Carl Aubock has been turning ordinary objects like paperweights and bookends into extraordinary objects of beauty in an old town house in Vie...Category
2010s Austrian Letter Openers
MaterialsBrass
- Nutcracker Style 1 by Carl AubockBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Sag Harbor, NYFor five generations the design house of Carl Aubock has been turning ordinary objects like paperweights and bookends into extraordinary objects of beauty in an old town house in Vie...Category
2010s Austrian Desk Sets
MaterialsBrass
- Large Magazine Rack by Carl AubockBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Sag Harbor, NYFor five generations the design house of Carl Aub?ock has been turning ordinary objects like paperweights and bookends into extraordinary objects of beauty in an old town house in Vi...Category
2010s Austrian Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsBrass
- Small Magazine Rack by Carl AubockBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Sag Harbor, NYFor five generations the design house of Carl Auböck has been turning ordinary objects like paperweights and bookends into extraordinary objects of beauty in an old town house in Vie...Category
2010s Austrian Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsBrass
- SLO Bookends in White Acquatico Marble by Christophe DelcourtBy Collection ParticulièreLocated in Sag Harbor, NYDesign company Collection Particulière presents meaningful furniture and objects with bold, clean shapes. Imbued with a soft elegance, each piece breathes new life into the space it ...Category
2010s French More Desk Accessories
MaterialsMarble
- Large Square Marble TrayBy Michaël VerheydenLocated in Sag Harbor, NYLarge square tray designed by Michael Verheyden is a sophisticated piece available in different marbles and two sizes serving a number of functions in any...Category
2010s Belgian More Desk Accessories
MaterialsMarble
- Brass Corkscrew from Auböck "Modern Key" Austria ViennaLocated in Vienna, ATBrass Corkscrew from Auböck, "Modern Key", Austria Vienna, good original conditionCategory
Vintage 1950s Desk Sets
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Midcentury Brass Seahorse Handmade Key Ring Chain HolderBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA charming modernist seahorse keyring / key holder / keychain, designed by Carl Auböck in the 1950s. Handmade of solid polished brass by Werkstätte Auböck in Austria. Fully stamped a...Category
20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Collectible Jewelry
MaterialsBrass
- 1950s Austrian Brass Paperweight by Carl AubockBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn elegant heavy solid brass 'hand' paperweight.Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Paperweights
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Nickel Plated U-Shaped Brass Key Ring Chain Holder KnopferlBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA charming modernist U-shaped keyring / keyholder / keychain "Knopferl", model #4617-2, designed by Carl Auböck in the 1950s. Handmade of solid polished brass by Werkstätte Auböck in Austria. Identical to the brass key ring...Category
20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Collectible Jewelry
MaterialsBrass, Nickel
- Carl Auböck Handcrafted Midcentury Foot Brass Figurine Key Ring Chain HolderBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA charming modernist foot keyring / keyholder / keychain, designed by Carl Auböck in the 1950s. Handmade of solid polished brass by Werkstätte Auböck in Austria. Fully stamped and ma...Category
20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Collectible Jewelry
MaterialsBrass
- Carl Auböck Handcrafted Midcentury Brass Anchor Figurine Key Ring Chain HolderBy Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in Vienna, ATA charming modernist Anchor keyring / keyholder / keychain, designed by Carl Auböck in the 1950s. Handmade of solid polished brass by Werkstätte Auböck in Austria. Fully stamped and ...Category
20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Collectible Jewelry
MaterialsBrass