Heavily Patinated (Much Used!) Walter Bosse for Herta Baller 1950s Brass "Hand" Ashtray folk art toy axe with several large plants in

with several large plants in New England that operated until the 1970s

Looks like ink and watercolor to me--on folded paper

This piece has a truly fantastic presence and object-hood

I especially love the heeled boot silhouettes of their dancing legs

but as it is this gorgeous 1975 book is the next best thing

Heavily Patinated (Much Used!) Walter Bosse for Herta Baller 1950s Brass "Hand" Ashtray folk art toy axe with several large plants inI 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