Pair of Italian Travertine Ashtrays / Vide-Poches, round and square 1970

A striking pair of Italian travertine ashtrays from the 1970s — one round, one square — each fitted with a removable polished metal dish. This pair embodies the refined, material-driven taste of 1970s Italian design, when travertine — the noble Roman stone — was reinterpreted into bold decorative objects for the modern interior. Each piece is carved from a solid block of natural travertine, left unfilled so that the stone's characteristic open pores and warm ivory-to-honey veining remain fully expressed. The two share the same architectural language but differ in geometry: one is round, with a softly bowed, column-base profile; the other is square, with a stepped, cornice-like moulded edge. Shown together, the round and the square form a balanced, sculptural dialogue.