If you’re as old as I am, or if you’ve been watching Mad Men, you may know that in the middle of the last century there were ashtrays all over the place, for obvious reasons. They weren’t just utilitarian objects, though. Many were beautifully crafted, and no coffee table tableau was complete without just the right one.
Even now, after the Surgeon General’s warnings have mostly cleared the air, there are lots of great looking ceramic and enamel ashtrays floating around in places like vintage home shops and ebay, mostly unwanted and inexpensive. I bought this one because I thought it was beautiful, but had no real purpose for it until I thought of using it as a catch-all in our kitchen in Southampton.
It was probably made in the late 60s and is a nice example of an Italian workshop called Bitossi’s Rimini Blue pattern, which has been production since 1953. (I bought it for about $30 at a great vintage consignment shop called The Other Shop in San Francisco, 327 Divisadero St, between Oak and Page, 415.621-5424.) Other types of vintage Bitossi objects of this size and quality, like bowls or vases, sell for several times this amount.
