Designer: Walter Bosse (1904 – 1979)

Item: Set of Four Hand Ashtrays

Manufactured by: Walter Bosse and Herta Baller (1921 - 1957)

Country of origin: Austria

Year made: Ca. 1950s

Materials: Patinated and polished brass

Dimensions: Each are about 2 ¾” x 4” x 4”

Condition: Very good plus, to excellent.

References: Edward, Alfred W., Art Deco Sculpture & Metalware, Schiffer Publishing Ltd (1996); Schreyer-Hartmann, Cherica, Walter Bosse: Leben, Kunst und Handwerk 1904-1979. Vienna: Brandstätter, (2000).

Description: We are fortunate to be able to offer another collection of four authentic vintage period pieces of one of the most famous Bosse designs produced by Herta Baller for Walter Bosse. These have been very heavily copied and knocked-off in other countries (e.g., England, Israel, Mexico, Russia) over the years and were reintroduced by the firm that now owns the license for original Bosse's designs. But these are the original and vintage examples from the late 1940s or early 1950s.

These early original versions seem to be getting harder to find and starting to get expensive even for single examples. Within the last year we have seen the prices for single examples escalate sharply in price, and we routinely see single examples for between $400 and $600 each, even for some of the knock-offs.

Despite being designed as ashtrays, these could also be used to serve small candies, or to hold rings or other small jewelry. A great opportunity to make a design statement with this collection. The quality and heft of these rivals those of other the Vienna, Austria firms of Hagenauer and Aubock.

Each are signed with the correct impressed “Austria Baller” marks on the bottom. These are well documented in the Bosse original catalogs with images showing the ashtrays in use and their model numbers, which can be found on the Internet.