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The round base is of turned and filleted design, and supports a central standard with a conical base buttressed by four winged dolphins. Above the dolphin's raised tails, the standard rises through a 4'' passage of rope-twist ornament to a sophisticated 10 3/4'' length that is square in plan and facet-cut in a masculine geometric relief with chamfered corners. The reserves and faces of this passage retain the original subtle red, yellow, and green-brown patina colors. Above this is another 3 1/2'' of the rope-twist motif, surmounted by a collar depicting two repeats of a pair of exotic birds, probably a parrot and a cockatoo, with clusters of berries. Above the birds a vertically ribbed cup supports the broad-rimmed ashtray. Serpent heads, modified to serve as cigarette holders, rise from opposite sides of the ashtray rim, and evenly spaced between these are the terminals of an arcing and scalloped handle with fleur-de-lis ornaments. A large flat finial in the form of a galleon-style ship is attached to the top of this handle.
An applied tag on the bottom of the base bears the stamped inscription Oscar B. Bach / New York / Studios Inc with a central image of a female profile flanked on each side by a stamped
B. There is also a very faint mark on the top, not the bottom of the base along the outer ring, reading
O·B·BACH.
The finial ship has exaggerated banners that unfurl from its masts and assume atmospheric weight, suggesting clouds or some fantastic element. As such, the vessel is probably The Flying Dutchman, a spectral ship that haunts the seas around the Cape of Good Hope, luring other vessels to destruction. Legend has it that the Dutch captain persisted in trying to round the Cape in spite of a violent storm and protests of passengers and crew. An ethereal form, presumably a benevolent God, appeared on the deck and was fired upon and cursed at by the single-minded captain. As punishment the captain and his ship were condemned to sail forever, and are a spiteful danger to other sailors. The Flying Dutchman is the skeleton ship that appears in Coleridge's "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner", and she is spotted on the Tappan Sea in Washington Irving's Chronicles of Woolfets Roost. Wagner's 1843 opera Der Fliegende Hollander is perhaps the most famous telling of this cursed ship's tale.
The base of the smoking stand is an interpretation of a dolphin motif popular during the Renaissance period and revived with increased popularity during the Rococo and Classical periods. This aquatic animal was conceptualized and depicted as a sea monster in the 14th century, based primarily on descriptions by explorers and sailors encountering dolphins and porpoises for the first time. This is the same creature that appears on old maps depicting "unknown waters" and the dangers therein, and it is likely that the leaping motion these animals take through the waves gave rise to the fanciful wings often shown sprouting from their sides in stylized design. As taxonomy progressed through the early 19th century, these sea monsters were reconceptualized and renamed, but often not redrawn, as dolphins. One of the most popular ways to depict these dolphins is in the posture Bach uses here: Tail up and flailing, with head and body flat as though coming to rest on land. Bach's inclusion of these "sea monsters" not only supports the general sense of mystery and danger associated with the famous ghost ship, but also demonstrates the designer's understanding of the antique cultures he emphasizes in his trade literature.
Smoking stand at right
Bertram Segar (inscribed on the reverse of the base THE SEGAR STUDIOS, NY). New York, New York. 1923-1930. Copper alloy with brown chemical patina. Height overall: 41''; Diameter of base: 9 3/8''; Diameter of tray: 7 1/4''; Diameter of finial: 4''.
Bach and Segar Smoking Stands: Comparison and Analysis
This smoking stand by Segar is very similar to the Bach example. The most obvious difference is that the Segar stand is approximately 1'' taller, due primarily to an additional ornamental ring below the band of exotic birds. The Segar stand makes a good first impression, as one first notices the attractive hammered texture to the base, typical of Bach who in this case opted for a smooth finish on his smoking stand. But beyond this attractive surface on one area of the Segar stand, the Bach example is not only a superior design, but also clearly is the original design after which the Segar example was copied. This progression from Bach original to Segar copy is plainly documented in period sources and does not depend on stylistic analysis for proof; however, it is crucial to the understanding and connoisseurship of the objects to see the visual evidence that supports the paper trail.
The bases of the smoking stands require inspection beyond the ornamental hammered treatment. Bach has revived a common baroque and rococo motif of the dolphin coming to a rather violent rest on a shore. Eighteenth-century prints often depict an assortment of rocks and waves crashing around the dolphin's head. Bach has reduced these shore affects to a duo of small rocks that appear between each dolphin. In the translation to the Segar model, these four well-spaced pairs of rocks have been revised to a far less literate variation, wherein six single rocks are spaced among the four dolphin heads. The design ratio between four animals and six evenly-spaced ornaments is clearly problematic; some of the ornaments are reasonably well-situated but others are hidden below the dolphins. This design flaw is the result of not seeing the two components of the base, dolphin buttresses and round platform, as a unified composition. Moreover, the poor conceptualization indicates that Segar's carver did not understand Bach's design and historical references; the abstracted rocks were misunderstood and misrepresented as pointless globs of metal. Note also that the base of the Segar stand incorporates a slightly scalloped fillet around the dolphin's heads, while the Bach stand shows a straight fillet. This modification suffers the same six-versus-four design flaw as the rock ornaments.
Moving up the standards of the smoking stands we encounter the rope-twist passages. Here Bach's carving loses much of its robust nature when reinterpreted by the Segar artisan. The individual bands are thinner, more uniform, and lacking in spontaneity. The facet-cut main portion of the standard shows a gross simplification of Bach's jewel-like three-color patina. The delicate red, green, and yellow patina has been completely replaced with the same red-brown color that is used over the remainder of the object. This decision should not be misunderstood as a simple design choice. It is avoidance of a technically challenging patina.
The upper collar depicting exotic birds is also disappointing on the Segar example. The Segar birds are lacking in detail and vigor. They are smoother, simplified, and mass-produced in appearance. This is the normal and expected progression from original object to reproduction: many details are lost and simplified, and the ones that remain become slightly larger and clumsy. The ashtray of the Segar stand has an edge that shows distracting "skimming marks" that are the result of a roughly made object being smoothed on a lathe. As a result it has a mechanized look. The Bach ashtray, in contrast, is gently modeled with a masculine, flowing roll.
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