While poking around a very mid-century heavy auction, I stumbled across these Kenji Fujita ashtrays. It’s interesting to watch the mid-century modern market kind of mature and level off. Certain items that folks were nuts about 5 years ago are in decline, and more minimalist pieces have retained their value better.

It’s no secret that I like ceramics. I saw these two small asymmetrical porcelain pieces in a box lot with some other miscellaneous items. I know the Freeman Lederman mark well, and am more familiar with the work that LaGardo Tackett designed - so it was nice to find these items "in the wild." Tackett is probably best known for modernist mid-century kitchen items and producing a line of condom holders that were sold in the back pages of early issues of Playboy.  The condom holders are egg-shaped and contain whimsical sayings/designs; they are worth looking up. Regarding Kenji Fujita himself, I've not had much luck tracking down biographical info aside from a small mention that he shared a studio and was a protégé of Tackett.