Spherical ashtray

Selected because it is a striking object with a patent number which should provide a lead.

Spherical ashtray
Case number - PHSL : 91
A spherical ashtray with three fold out cigarette rests
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DesignerUnkown - Wanted
ManufacturerRoanoid
Manufactured forRoxon
CountryUK
Date1935 (circa) - Wanted
Dimensionsheight 87 mm, diameter 85 mm
Materialsplastic, UF, urea formaldehyde, metal, lead
Methodcompression moulded
Colourspink, black
InscriptionMoulded: "PAT NO 389426 Made for Roxon Ltd by Roanoid"
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05/02/14

PHSL : 91 No, not another football. Would you believe it, its an ashtray.

06/02/14

PHSL : 91 No, not another football. Would you believe it, its an ashtray.

06/02/14

And stunningly beautiful

06/02/14

A 'Dunlop' ashtray made by Roanoid Ltd and retailed by Roxon Ltd. Used as a premium by Dunlop and so occasionally called a tennis ball ashtray. Made in five different colours with variants on each colour.Thiourea formaldehyde tops with phenol formaldehyde arms and bases 1930s. See Bakelite Style. Tessa Clark (Ed). Quintet. 1997. page 53.

06/02/14

British Patent No. 389426, November 12th 1932, taken out by Andrew Vaughan Jones c/o Roanoid Ltd. and Roxon Ltd. See - espacenet.com

07/02/14

Screen shot of part of patent 389426

11/02/14

Ian has done it again - well done - so we have a date from the patent and we know who lodged it. The question is now what is the relationship between Andrew Vaughan Jones and Roanoid. Is he an owner / director of the company or the designer of this wonderful object - perhaps he was both? Who can take this further?

13/02/14

Gad Sassower writes from Jaffa. ‘There is a very much rarer form of this ashtray made in a range of single colours. These colours can either be mottled, or plain, as the attached photos show. There is also a poorly made version, which has a black base and brown Bakelite top. These were made in the late 30s / early 40s in Australia”.

13/02/14

13/02/14

13/02/14

Wow - they are quite something. Incidentally, I have managed to contact Andrew Vaughan Jones's grandson. Same name except for a hyphen. He is unsure exactly what AVJ's role was at Roanoid but has a drawing he is going to show me which may clinch it.

13/02/14

Is it the poor version or the rare versions or both that were made in Australia?

14/02/14

It's the poor version. I have seen a few. they have brown bakelite tops. Quite crude. Often the arms don't work.

01/03/14

Sadly that drawing I was looking forward to seeing doesn't clinch anything. It is for a shaving set made for Andrew Vaughan Jones. There is no reason to think that it was made by him. So currently we seem at the end of the line.

08/03/14

Come on all of you - what can you find out about Andrew Vaughan Jones?

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Case notes

Susan Lambert's picture

Spherical ashtray: Case PHSL : 91

Patent and more found

07/02/14

Two more mentions for Ian: . What he tells us about it being used by Dunlop as a premium is new valuable information and also that it is made in five different colours which can be seen in all their glory in Clark, T., (1997) Bakelite Style, p.53. And he has found the British Patent (GB389426) taken out by Andrew Vaughan Jones c/o of Roanoid with Roxon on 12 November 1932.

What role did Andrew Vaughan Jones play at Roanoid? Was he designer or owner, perhaps both ...?

Rarer and also cheaper models made

13/02/14

Ian15.mdx contacted Gad Sassower, now of Jaffa, who used to have a shop specialising in plastics in Camden Passage. He wrote:

There is a much rarer form of this ashtray made in a range of single colours. These colours can either be mottled, or plain as the attached photos show. There is also a poorly made version, which has a black base and a brown Bakelite top. These were made in the late 30s /early 40s in Australia.

 We still want to know what role Andrew Vaughan Jones played. Was he or someone else the creator of this wonderful design?