Dice Ashtray with Lid Hinged at Two Sides and Opens

Shaped as a pair of dice, this silver ashtray opens at a lid hinged on two sides, with four cigarette holders fitted inside, a piece of mid-century desk wit executed in solid silver. The playful conceit sits within the range of cigarette boxes and ashtrays that were a staple of Spratling's table objects.

Dated to the first design period, 1931-1946, the ashtray shows the workshop applying its handwrought craft to small functional novelties as readily as to hollowware. Ashtrays and smoking accessories of this kind featured among the objects Spratling's shop produced for the home and were the sort shown in his later exhibitions.

Figural desk pieces of this date survive only occasionally.