Large Dark Green Crystal Ashtray with Sculpted Shark Reliefs — Circa 1970

This ashtray is a singular object — one that demonstrates how mid-century glass designers could transform a commonplace domestic item into something approaching sculpture. The bowl is cast in deep, smoky green crystal, a colour with a richness and depth that shifts between forest green and near-black depending on the angle of light. Around the exterior of the bowl, three-dimensional shark figures emerge from the glass in high relief, their forms resolved with a precision that speaks to moulds of considerable quality. The result is an object that is simultaneously primitive in its iconographic directness and refined in its material execution.

The interior base carries an engraved pattern of floral or star-like motifs, adding a second register of decoration that contrasts with the sculptural drama of the exterior. This layering of surface treatments — mould-pressed relief on the outside, engraved line work within — reflects a tradition of decorative glassmaking that flourished in central European and Scandinavian workshops throughout the mid-twentieth century, where technical virtuosity was deployed in the service of inventive form.

At 21 centimetres square, this is a generous piece with a presence that goes well beyond its original function. On a desk, a coffee table, or a bar, it functions as a collector's object first and an ashtray second — or not at all. Its dark, oceanic palette and its unusual decorative programme, evoking the mystery and menace of deep-sea predators, give it a personality that is rare among decorative glass objects of the period.

A genuine curiosity and a highly characterful example of mid-century decorative glasswork, this ashtray is the kind of piece that provokes immediate and lasting reactions.