Jacques Adnet Hand-Stitched Leather Ashtray, France 1950

An elegant leather ashtray by Jacques Adnet, France, 1950s. Hand-stitched saddle leather frames a metal ashtray well, in the refined equestrian-modernist style for which Adnet — and his association with Hermès — is celebrated. This ashtray embodies Jacques Adnet's signature marriage of modernist rigour and luxury craftsmanship. It is built around a circular form wrapped in hand-stitched leather, worked with the contrast saddle-stitching that is the designer's hallmark, while a polished metal well sits at the centre to hold ash and rest cigarettes. The warm tone of the leather, its visible stitching and its rich patina give the piece a tactile, sartorial quality, softening the cool geometry of the metal. Compact and beautifully made, it reads as much as a desk jewel as a functional object.