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An oval silver ashtray raised on a frame shows Spratling carrying his design sensibility into functional holloware, the dish lifted clear of the surface so the form reads as a small piece of sculpture rather than a flat tray. It belongs to the Second Design Period of 1949 to 1951.
Morrill describes the direction of Spratling's mature objects as paring forms down to their simplest outline (Morrill, Mexican Silver, 1994, p. 73), and an ashtray reduced to an oval on a frame is exactly that instinct applied to a useful thing. The 980 silver he preferred gave such pieces their characteristic softer patina (Morrill, p. 36).
Functional silver objects of this kind come to market less often than his jewelry.
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