Heavily Patinated (Much Used!) Walter Bosse for Herta Baller 1950s Brass "Hand" Ashtray folk art toy axe This piece has a truly

This piece has a truly fantastic presence and object-hood

I especially love the heeled boot silhouettes of their dancing legs

hands clasped and fingers threaded just below that perfect cupid's mouth

as the sender describes

Wooden barbells always seem a bit of a funny thing to me

Heavily Patinated (Much Used!) Walter Bosse for Herta Baller 1950s Brass "Hand" Ashtray folk art toy axe This piece has a trulyI happened upon this one digging around in Maine this week an iconic brass 'hand' ashtray designed by Walter Bosse and produced by Herta Baller, Austria, c. 1950 Terrific form all the way around, with the pinched thumb and forefinger meant to evoke the holding of a cigarette and this particular ashtray was clearly very much used as such, with lots of blackening to the bowl. I have wiped it well with a damp cloth, but not attempted to clean or polish