Artistic ashtrays: the case for one you would keep out

Most objects on a table were chosen. The lamp, the glasses, the bowl the keys go in. The ashtray was found — a saucer, a cut can, a steel dish from the kitchen — and it sits at the centre of the table looking like exactly that.

We think the ashtray deserves the same attention as everything around it, and we make ours as sculpture first. The job — a place for ash, a rest for the cigarette — is designed in, but the object has to stand on its own when nothing is burning.

What that looks like. Ace is a playing card in ceramic, flat and glazed, with the rest built into its edge. Guard is a bulldog mid-bark; the open mouth is the ashtray. Obsidian Croc is the clog, rendered in black glaze — vents along the top, ash where the foot would go. Rock is a stone that turns out to be hollow. Swirl is a pool of cobalt water you would hesitate to tap ash into — except that is what it's for — and Puff carries hand-lettering that is different on every piece.

Why ceramic. It takes glaze, which takes colour and depth that metal and plastic can't. It has weight, so the piece stays where you put it. It wipes clean and doesn't hold smell. And it can be shaped into almost anything, which is the whole point.

Made in India, by hand. Every piece is made in our studio and finished one at a time; the hand-crafted collection is no-two-alike by definition. See the whole set on the products page, or browse by collection.