Marianne Brandt, ashtray, 1924. Part of the MoMa Collection. Brass and nickel-plated metal (7 x 7.9 cm). Manufactured by Bauhaus Metal Workshop, Germany.
While metalwork was usually allocated to men at the Bauhaus, Brandt successfully registered into this masculine arena. She was one of the female students who did not wish to study in the “women’s department” – the Weaving Workshop. Even though she managed to enter the Metal Workshop, she was not welcome at first. In a Letter to the Younger Generation, 1970, mentioned in the book Bauhaus Women by Ulrike Muller, Brandt wrote “’[at] first, I was not accepted with pleasure – there was no place for a woman in a metal workshop, they felt. They admitted this to me later on and meanwhile expressed their displeasure by giving me all sorts of dull, dreary work’” (118). In spite of the unwelcoming atmosphere among her male colleagues, Brandt did not give up on her true passion, and her talent was soon recognized. She produced significant designs for ashtrays, a metal teapot, and a full tea set. Read more …
Design is fine. History is mine. 