Ralph
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2005
- Messages
- 257
Thought I'd share a project of mine from earlier this year.
I had been searching for an ashtray stand for years and came across this piece at an antique shop about a mile from my house. This is definitely built as a cigarette smoker's ashtray but the Art Deco style just spoke to me!
My research says it was made by the Alexander Backer Company (ABCO) in the '40s. Not really a whole lot of information out there on their ashtrays, but ABCO was famous for their decorative figurines and a patent infringement lawsuit about those figurines.
The stand is chromed, cast aluminum, tin and and cast iron, and what looks like marble in the base is actually plastic. There is an ash receptacle on either side and another receptacle which I believe was intended to hold cigarettes vertically. (It currently holds spent cigar bands). The rose colored agate on the top is actually a working cigarette lighter, (like a car lighter) and not really practical for cigars. I put a battery operated LED tea light underneath it for aesthetic purposes and it looks pretty cool at night.
I removed most of the surface rust with naval jelly and sandpaper, but the majority of the work was polishing the aluminum top. The shop owner recommended SIMICHROME from Germany which worked fantastic. The base was so pitted and rusted I sanded as much as I could and ended up painting it with a chrome spray paint. It didn't really show the chrome as the paint advertised, but overall I'm really happy with the result. I use it nearly every time I smoke and it's always a topic of conversation even when sitting unused in the dining room.
I had been searching for an ashtray stand for years and came across this piece at an antique shop about a mile from my house. This is definitely built as a cigarette smoker's ashtray but the Art Deco style just spoke to me!
My research says it was made by the Alexander Backer Company (ABCO) in the '40s. Not really a whole lot of information out there on their ashtrays, but ABCO was famous for their decorative figurines and a patent infringement lawsuit about those figurines.
The stand is chromed, cast aluminum, tin and and cast iron, and what looks like marble in the base is actually plastic. There is an ash receptacle on either side and another receptacle which I believe was intended to hold cigarettes vertically. (It currently holds spent cigar bands). The rose colored agate on the top is actually a working cigarette lighter, (like a car lighter) and not really practical for cigars. I put a battery operated LED tea light underneath it for aesthetic purposes and it looks pretty cool at night.
I removed most of the surface rust with naval jelly and sandpaper, but the majority of the work was polishing the aluminum top. The shop owner recommended SIMICHROME from Germany which worked fantastic. The base was so pitted and rusted I sanded as much as I could and ended up painting it with a chrome spray paint. It didn't really show the chrome as the paint advertised, but overall I'm really happy with the result. I use it nearly every time I smoke and it's always a topic of conversation even when sitting unused in the dining room.
