A covered playing card (or trinket box) and a footed, triangular-shaped ash-tray by Sascha Brastoff, in a matt black glaze withglossy orange overglaze highlights. Tray appears to be an ash-tray, but could also serve as a candy or nut dish, size 7 1/2 in. long, divided covered box appears to have been designed for holding cards, but could be used for other purposes, size 6 1/2 in. long x 4 3/4 in. wide x 1 1/2 in. tall, both pieces signed "Sascha B" with pattern numbers, condition very good. Sascha Brastoff (1917-1993) was a performer, designer, and the founder of a successful production ceramics factory and product line that operated in Los Angeles, California, from c.1946 – 1962. As the company grew, an expanded factory and showroom designed by A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons was built on West Olympic Boulevard in West Los Angeles in 1953. At its peak production, the company employed around 100 ceramicists and decorators. The product lines included dinnerware sets, vases, decorative boxes and plates, figurines and more. The wide range of his designs tend to follow Brastoff’s influences: theater and performance, futurism and abstraction, and the stylistic tastes of a midcentury Los Angeles. (AMOCA)