Ashtray
1924 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This ashtray is one of the earliest works by Marianne Brandt to be produced in the Bauhaus Metal Workshop in Weimar.
Brandt joined the Bauhaus in 1924 at a critical stage in its development. The Hungarian, Laslo Moholy-Nagy had recently been made Formeister (form master) of the Metal Workshops by the Director of the school, Walter Gropius. He replaced Johannes Itten who had been in charge of the Metal Workshops since the establishment of the Bauhaus in 1919.
Itten had been an influential figure in the Bauhaus. He was Director of the preliminary course and several other workshops beside the important metal workshops. His approach was essentially subjective, placing great emphasis on the student's individual creativity. Under Itten's direction, the Metal Workshops worked exclusively in precious metals producing highly crafted objects of an individual nature which at times bore similarities with the work produced by the Wiener Werkstatte.
However Itten's individualistic expressionism was increasingly at odds with the ambitions of Gropius who was determined to reorganise the metal shops for industrial prototype production. Itten departed in 1923 and was replaced by Moholy-Nagy who was much more in sympathy with this policy. Having been associated with Van Doesburg of the De Stijl movement and the Russian Supremacists. El Lissitzky and Naum Gabo, he incorporated elements of the constructivist philosophy in the new curriculum. In his writing he advocated the use of simple geometric forms and placed great emphasis on clarity, objectivity and abstraction which, he was convinced, was the most promising approach to the problems of industrial design itself. In this he was supported by Christian Dell who had been made Craft Master of the Metal Workshops in 1922. Dell, who had worked with Van de Velde, was an experienced silversmith. His own work illustrates a concern for pure geometric forms (see the tea and coffee service, VAM Circ.257-262,-1970) and he proved a gifted teacher who could demonstrate how different shapes could be created out of flat sheets of metal. Moholy-Nagy successfully encouraged this talent and was instrumental in introducing the use of ferrous metals, nickel and chromium plating.
One of the first and arguably most brilliant students to respond to these developments was Marianne Brandt. She was later to write: "We wanted to return to the simplest forms." (Form und Zweck, Fachzeitschrift fur Industrielle Formestaltung, Issue No.3, 1979, p.69). Her first designs which include this ashtray and the tea infuser in the British Museum were ruthlessly geometric and have since become icons of the Weimar Bauhaus.
Thus this ashtray represents a fundamental change of direction, not only for the Metal Workshops but for the Bauhaus generally. From this point onwards, the tuition and workshop practice were geared to the requirements of industrial design. After the move to Dessau in 1925, Marianne Brandt designed a series of light fittings adopted by Korting & Matthiesen and Leipzig Leutzsch which were commercially very successful. However, her work never quite achieved the formal and iconic properties of her earlier work in Weimar.
Brandt joined the Bauhaus in 1924 at a critical stage in its development. The Hungarian, Laslo Moholy-Nagy had recently been made Formeister (form master) of the Metal Workshops by the Director of the school, Walter Gropius. He replaced Johannes Itten who had been in charge of the Metal Workshops since the establishment of the Bauhaus in 1919.
Itten had been an influential figure in the Bauhaus. He was Director of the preliminary course and several other workshops beside the important metal workshops. His approach was essentially subjective, placing great emphasis on the student's individual creativity. Under Itten's direction, the Metal Workshops worked exclusively in precious metals producing highly crafted objects of an individual nature which at times bore similarities with the work produced by the Wiener Werkstatte.
However Itten's individualistic expressionism was increasingly at odds with the ambitions of Gropius who was determined to reorganise the metal shops for industrial prototype production. Itten departed in 1923 and was replaced by Moholy-Nagy who was much more in sympathy with this policy. Having been associated with Van Doesburg of the De Stijl movement and the Russian Supremacists. El Lissitzky and Naum Gabo, he incorporated elements of the constructivist philosophy in the new curriculum. In his writing he advocated the use of simple geometric forms and placed great emphasis on clarity, objectivity and abstraction which, he was convinced, was the most promising approach to the problems of industrial design itself. In this he was supported by Christian Dell who had been made Craft Master of the Metal Workshops in 1922. Dell, who had worked with Van de Velde, was an experienced silversmith. His own work illustrates a concern for pure geometric forms (see the tea and coffee service, VAM Circ.257-262,-1970) and he proved a gifted teacher who could demonstrate how different shapes could be created out of flat sheets of metal. Moholy-Nagy successfully encouraged this talent and was instrumental in introducing the use of ferrous metals, nickel and chromium plating.
One of the first and arguably most brilliant students to respond to these developments was Marianne Brandt. She was later to write: "We wanted to return to the simplest forms." (Form und Zweck, Fachzeitschrift fur Industrielle Formestaltung, Issue No.3, 1979, p.69). Her first designs which include this ashtray and the tea infuser in the British Museum were ruthlessly geometric and have since become icons of the Weimar Bauhaus.
Thus this ashtray represents a fundamental change of direction, not only for the Metal Workshops but for the Bauhaus generally. From this point onwards, the tuition and workshop practice were geared to the requirements of industrial design. After the move to Dessau in 1925, Marianne Brandt designed a series of light fittings adopted by Korting & Matthiesen and Leipzig Leutzsch which were commercially very successful. However, her work never quite achieved the formal and iconic properties of her earlier work in Weimar.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Brass and electroplated nickel silver |
| Brief description | Brass and nickel silver alloy, Germany, Weimar, 1924, designed and made by Marianne Brandt in the Bauhaus workshops, Weimar. |
| Physical description | The bowl is a squat cylinder made of brass sheet joined by a soldered, vertical seam down the side and internally soldered toa flat, circular base. The rim has been strengthened by a narrow internal flange of nickel silver alloy with a segment removed to accommodate the cigarette holder attached to the lid. The bowl rests on a narrow, circular foot, inset from the base and of reduced diameter to the base itself. It is contructed from a narrow strip of alloy soldered to the base and joined by a short, soldered vertical seam. The circular lid of nickel silver alloy is parabolic in cross section and is supported by two small spindles, soldered at opposite sides to the circumference to the underside of the rim, which fit into slots cut into the internal flange round the rim of the bowl. Thus with slight pressure on the side of the lid opposite the cigarette holder, the lid tips to deposit ash into the bowl. The cigarette support is a curved strip of alloy with straight sides, soldered to the side of the lid and rests in the segment removed from the rim of the bowl. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | Stamped on the underside of the base with the Bauhaus seal, encircled with the inscription STAATLICHES BAUHAUS-WEIMAR. (The inscription designed by Oscar Schlemmer and in use from 1922.) |
| Gallery label | Pioneering women of the Bauhaus
At a time when women struggled to find a place in industry as designers, many female graduates from the Bauhaus art school became highly-regarded and commercially successful. Marianne Brandt was the first woman admitted into the Bauhaus metal workshop in 1924. Her ashtray represents a change of direction for the school, which became more geared towards design for industrial production at this time. The vase by Bauhaus graduate Marguerite Friedländer-Wildenhain, with its simple and undecorated form, was also ideally suited for commercial production.
Metal ashtray with flip lid
MT35, 1924
Designed by Marianne Brandt
Made at the Bauhaus metal workshop, Germany
Brass bowl and electroplated silver-nickel alloy lid
Museum no. M.73&A-1988
White porcelain vase
About 1929
Designed by Marguerite Friedländer-Wildenhain
Made at Burg Giebichenstein for the State Porcelain Manufactory, Germany Glazed porcelain
Museum no. C.126-1984
The object sits in the 'Automation and Labour' section of the Design 1900-Now gallery opened in June 2021.(2021) |
| Object history | This ashtray is one of the earliest works by Marianne Brandt to be produced in the Bauhaus Metal Workshop in Weimar. Modernism Exhibition RF.2005/362 |
| Historical context | Marianne Brandt joined the Bauhaus in 1924 at a critical stage in its development. The Hungarian, Laslo Moholy-Nagy had recently been made Formeister (form master) of the Metal Workshops by the Director of the school, Walter Gropius. He replaced Johannes Itten who had been in charge of the Metal Workshops since the establishment of the Bauhaus in 1919. Itten had been an influential figure in the Bauhaus. He was Director of the preliminary course and several other workshops beside the important metal workshops. His approach was essentially subjective, placing great emphasis on the student's individual creativity. Under Itten's direction, the Metal Workshops worked exclusively in precious metals producing highly crafted objects of an individual nature which at times bore similarities with the work produced by the Wiener Werkstatte. However Itten's individualistic expressionism was increasingly at odds with the ambitions of Gropius who was determined to reorganise the metal shops for industrial prototype production. Itten departed in 1923 and was replaced by Moholy-Nagy who was much more in sympathy with this policy. Having been associated with Van Doesburg of the De Stijl movement and the Russian Suprematisits. El Lissitzky and Naum Gabo, he incorporated elements of the constructivist philosophy in the new curriculum. In his writing he advocated the use of simple geometric forms and placed great emphasis on clarity, objectivity and abstraction which, he was convinced, was the most promising approach to the problems of industrial design itself. In this he was supported by Christian Dell who had been made Craft Master of the Metal Workshops in 1922. Dell, who had worked with Van de Velde, was an experienced silversmith. His own work illustrates a concern for pure geometric forms (see the tea and coffee service, VAM Circ.257-262,-1970) and he proved a gifted teacher who could demonstrate how different shapes could be created out of flat sheets of metal. Moholy-Nagy successfully encouraged this talent and was instrumental in introducing the use of ferrous metals, nickel and chromium plating. One of the first and arguably most brilliant students to respond to these developments was Marianne Brandt. She was later to write: "We wanted to return to the simplest forms." (Form und Zweck, Fachzeitschrift fur Industrielle Formestaltung, Issue No.3, 1979, p.69). Her first designs which include this ashtray and the tea infuser in the British Museum were ruthlessly geometric and have since become icons of the Weimar Bauhaus. Thus this ashtray represents a fundamental change of direction, not only for the Metal Workshops but for the Bauhaus generally. From this point onwards, the tuition and workshop practice were geared to the requirements of industrial design. After the move to Dessau in 1925, Marianne Brandt designed a series of light fittings adopted by Korting & Matthiesen and Leipzig Leutzsch which were commercially very successful. However, her work never quite achieved the formal and iconic properties of her earlier work in Weimar. |
| Summary | This ashtray is one of the earliest works by Marianne Brandt to be produced in the Bauhaus Metal Workshop in Weimar. Brandt joined the Bauhaus in 1924 at a critical stage in its development. The Hungarian, Laslo Moholy-Nagy had recently been made Formeister (form master) of the Metal Workshops by the Director of the school, Walter Gropius. He replaced Johannes Itten who had been in charge of the Metal Workshops since the establishment of the Bauhaus in 1919. Itten had been an influential figure in the Bauhaus. He was Director of the preliminary course and several other workshops beside the important metal workshops. His approach was essentially subjective, placing great emphasis on the student's individual creativity. Under Itten's direction, the Metal Workshops worked exclusively in precious metals producing highly crafted objects of an individual nature which at times bore similarities with the work produced by the Wiener Werkstatte. However Itten's individualistic expressionism was increasingly at odds with the ambitions of Gropius who was determined to reorganise the metal shops for industrial prototype production. Itten departed in 1923 and was replaced by Moholy-Nagy who was much more in sympathy with this policy. Having been associated with Van Doesburg of the De Stijl movement and the Russian Supremacists. El Lissitzky and Naum Gabo, he incorporated elements of the constructivist philosophy in the new curriculum. In his writing he advocated the use of simple geometric forms and placed great emphasis on clarity, objectivity and abstraction which, he was convinced, was the most promising approach to the problems of industrial design itself. In this he was supported by Christian Dell who had been made Craft Master of the Metal Workshops in 1922. Dell, who had worked with Van de Velde, was an experienced silversmith. His own work illustrates a concern for pure geometric forms (see the tea and coffee service, VAM Circ.257-262,-1970) and he proved a gifted teacher who could demonstrate how different shapes could be created out of flat sheets of metal. Moholy-Nagy successfully encouraged this talent and was instrumental in introducing the use of ferrous metals, nickel and chromium plating. One of the first and arguably most brilliant students to respond to these developments was Marianne Brandt. She was later to write: "We wanted to return to the simplest forms." (Form und Zweck, Fachzeitschrift fur Industrielle Formestaltung, Issue No.3, 1979, p.69). Her first designs which include this ashtray and the tea infuser in the British Museum were ruthlessly geometric and have since become icons of the Weimar Bauhaus. Thus this ashtray represents a fundamental change of direction, not only for the Metal Workshops but for the Bauhaus generally. From this point onwards, the tuition and workshop practice were geared to the requirements of industrial design. After the move to Dessau in 1925, Marianne Brandt designed a series of light fittings adopted by Korting & Matthiesen and Leipzig Leutzsch which were commercially very successful. However, her work never quite achieved the formal and iconic properties of her earlier work in Weimar. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.73&A-1988 |
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| Record created | September 13, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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