Designer: Carl Auböck III (1924 – 1993)

Item: Fish (Neptune) Bottle Opener Model No. 4687

Manufactured by: Amboss Neuzeughammer Werkstätte Carl Auböck

Country of origin: Austria

Year made: Circa early 1960s

Materials: Stainless Steel, Horn and brass

Dimensions: 9 ½” x 1 ½” x 3/8”

Condition: Very good to excellent. It is very hard to find these with all the horn fully intact. Since these were used as bar tools the moisture in that environment often caused the horn to rot, or it dried out, chipped and broke. One side of the horn (with the contrasting lightened dark) is flawless and the other side (all dark) has a few very small nicks, probably from sliding around inside a utensil drawer, but this item appears mostly unused. Considering the scarcity of these horn handled models those tiny nicks are forgivable. The steel is in remarkablely great shape.

References: Kois, Clemens, Carl Auböck: The Workshop, Powerhouse Books, (2012); Wright Auction Catalog; The Workshop: Carl Auböck Designs 1930-1980, (2016); Auböck, Carl IV, die kataloge der werkstätte carl auböck 1925 - 1975, Carl Auböck Archive (2005); Auböck, Carl IV, die arbeiten der werkstätte carl auböck fotografiert von 1948 - 2005, Carl Auböck Archive (2009); Kuzmany, Marion, Auböck 1924 - 1993 Architect: Design for Modern Living, Verlang Anton Pustet (2009).

Description: Here is another iconic Carl Auböck III design in the hardest to find horn handled version. The Neptune openers were manufactured with several different handles, including wood (walnut), leather, horn and cane, with the wood, cane and horn being the most desirable and hardest to find. The first series of these openers had the steel produced by Amboss Neuzeughammer Austria and the handles crafted by hand in the Werkstätte Carl Auböck. This is a first series production with the Auböck name with the Amboss anvil symbol acid etched on one side and "Stainless Austria" on the other side.

These openers are becoming quite collectable, especially the cane and horn versions and based on some recent auction activity it seems the prices for these are rising. Shop around on the internet and you will see many dealers asking considerably more than our asking price.