Paperweight - Stone with Leather

A piece of the Danube, a piece of Auböck, a piece of design history.

Carl Auböck II developed the idea for this simple yet timeless paperweight around 1953. A natural stone is wrapped in leather, transforming an everyday material into a distinctive desk object. Its deliberately simple construction is a perfect example of Auböck's ability to turn ordinary materials into highly individual design objects.

The Stone with Leather is one of four objects used by Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus and a friend of Carl Auböck, on his desk. Together with the Hand, Foot and Egg, it forms our exclusive Walter Gropius Set (Carl Auböck “Walter Gropius” Paperweight Set – iconic Austrian desk objects in brass | Contemporum.).

The stones are traditionally collected at Strombad Kritzendorf on the Danube. Each one is unique and therefore differs slightly in shape, surface, size and weight. This makes the paperweight particularly authentic: it is not an identically manufactured industrial product, but a natural one-off piece transformed into design through craftsmanship.

Designer: Carl Auböck II

Designed: around 1953

Archive number: #4339

Material: Danube stone, leather

Made in: Austria