Square Italian Travertine Ashtray with Removable Metal Dish 1970

A bold square ashtray in warm Italian travertine, 1970s, fitted with a removable polished metal dish. A solid, architectural object whose stepped, cornice-like moulded edge frames the natural beauty of the unfilled stone. This piece reflects the material-driven taste of 1970s Italian design, when travertine — the noble Roman stone — was reinterpreted into striking decorative objects for the modern interior. It is carved from a single block of natural travertine, left unfilled so that the stone's open pores and warm ivory-to-honey veining remain fully visible. The square body is defined by a stepped, moulded edge that recalls an architectural plinth or cornice, while a removable round metal dish sits at its centre and lifts out for cleaning. The contrast between the geometric, squared silhouette and the organic stone gives it a quietly monumental character. Conceived as a generously sized table piece, it works equally well as an ashtray or as a vide-poche and catch-all for keys, jewellery and small everyday items, with the metal insert protecting the porous stone. Its weight and solidity lend it a reassuring presence on a desk, console, coffee table or bar. Beyond its function, it reads as a miniature architectural fragment — a plinth translated to desktop scale. The charm lies in the honest pairing of natural travertine and cool metal: warm, tactile, open-grained stone against a reflective dish. The unfilled surface, with its voids and fossil veining, makes each example unique. This sensibility — raw stone elevated into refined, minimal form — is typical of Italian production in the 1970s, in the spirit of makers such as Fratelli Mannelli.