Coiled Cobra Resin Ashtray in Three Painted Finishes

An ashtray spends most of its life empty and in plain view, which is the entire argument for one shaped like something. This is a cobra in cast resin, coiled into its own base with the hood up and the mouth open, hand painted in one of three finishes.

The coils form the well, and a notch is cut into the rim to park a cigarette while you use both hands. Scale detail runs over the hood and down the belly in a paler tone, which is where a resin casting either looks sculpted or looks poured. Here the detail is picked out by hand.

• Cast resin, hand painted scale detail
• 3.74 in (9.5 cm) tall, 4.13 in (10.5 cm) across
• Coils form the well, with a notch cut in the rim
• Three finishes: obsidian black, desert fang, phantom strike
• Works as a trinket dish for rings, keys, and guitar picks

Size

3.74 in (9.5 cm) tall and 4.13 in (10.5 cm) across, so it covers about the footprint of a coffee mug and stands a little lower than one. The well holds an evening for one or two people, not a party. On a bar top it sits under eye level and stays out of a conversation.

Good to know

Resin is not stone and it is not glass. A live coal left resting against the coils softens the surface and leaves a shiny divot that nothing takes back out. Tap the ash in, use the notch, and stub the end out against something heat proof. Treated that way it lasts. Treated as a stone ashtray it will not.

Care

Empty it and wipe it with a dry cloth, then rinse under warm water when the well goes tarry. Keep solvents away from it: hand painted detail sits on the surface rather than in it, and the paler scales along the belly lift first.