1960s Blenko Glass Brutalist Ashtray/Catchall Designed by Joel Myers

Description

Offered is a very heavy hand crafted Blenko Glass ashtray/catchall designed by Joel Myers in the late 1960s. It is … more Offered is a very heavy hand crafted Blenko Glass ashtray/catchall designed by Joel Myers in the late 1960s. It is a very rich shade of amber that catches light beautifully thanks to the design features. Depending on the angle you view it at you will see rich orange, sparkly copper, dark red, and very sunny saffron yellow. We believe Blenko refers to this color as Wheat. The base appears to be inverted pyramids with rough texture with a few that serve as feet. The surface is smooth and glossy, and the bottom seems like a waffle when viewed from the top. While this was originally designed as an ashtray, feel free to use it as a catchall, a trinket dish, or as part of your treasured mid 20th century glass collection where it can catch serious light - we hope the pictures do it justice. This is model 697L, and first appeared in Blenko Catalogs in 1969.
Measures 11.25" diameter, 1.75" tall, weighs approximately 8 lbs

From the Blenko Project website:
Joel Philip Myers earned a degree in advertising design from Parsons School of Design in 1954, and he attained his BFA and MFA in ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in the early 1960s. In 1963, Myers was hired as design director at Blenko Glass Company in Milton, West Virginia, where he taught himself glassblowing through observation and practice. Myers left Blenko in 1970 to found the glass department at Illinois State University, where he taught for nearly 30 years before retiring in 1997. Myers is known for simple yet powerful glass vessels that combine color and form in distinctive ways. less