1960s TSAO Designs inc, Pair of Orb Ashtrays, MCM Black & White, Carrara Marble, Hollow Orbs, Paper Weight, Modernist Art, Sculpture
Era: 1960s
Maker/Brand: TSAO Designs, Inc. New Canaan, CT - made in Italy
Materials: Carrera Marble
These fantastic modernist Carrara Marble orbs by the well known company of TSAO would be a trophy for any mid century decor. They were given out as corporate gifts in the 1950s to be used as cigar or cigarette ashtrays. When we look and re-interpret them as functional objects they transform into butter dishes, salt/pepper cellars, incense burners, ring dishes, olive & nut bowls...and on and on. The clean lines and beauty are perfectly balanced within the 3. 5" in circumference and diameter. Extraordinary example of pure simplistic design with minimal embellishment. The marble is in excellent condition, no chips nicks nor cracks. Original TSAO sticker in place.
Notes on TSAO Designs:
Warren Arthur: architect, lighting designer and entrepreneur moved to Connecticut in 1965 to work for Eero Saarinen in New Haven. He also worked for other prominent Connecticut architects in New Canaan, including Victor Christ-Janer, John Johansen, and Hugh Smallen. His approach to architectural problems already revealed a deeper, principled search for the fundamentals of modern design.
Mr. Arthur, his wife Mai, founded TSAO Designs, Inc. in New Canaan in 1966. Starting as a small boutique offering original designs in lighting fixtures and hand-printed textile accessories, TSAO Designs quickly grew into a Main Street shop with its own production facilities. Within a decade, the business had expanded into a complex of design studio, factory, and warehouse on New Canaan’s Grove Street.
By the 1990s, TSAO Designs was working with major design firms and producing lighting fixtures, and systems for clients such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and IBM. And by the turn of the 21st century, their client base for lighting systems also included academic libraries at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Rutgers Universities, and at Vassar College.
This item is sold from a vintage boutique in New Haven, Connecticut.
