Ash tray | MB 23 E

Marianne Brandt (née Liebe) (1893–1983) was a pioneering German designer and one of the most influential figures of the Bauhaus movement. Trained initially as a painter, she joined the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1924 and soon became a leading student in the metal workshop, an area dominated by men at the time. Under the mentorship of László Moholy-Nagy, Brandt's innovative designs in metalwork — particularly her teapots, lamps, and ashtrays — came to embody the functional and minimalist aesthetics of the Bauhaus. Her iconic teapot design, created in 1924, is celebrated for its geometric purity and remains a landmark of 20th-century industrial design. Brandt later became the head of the Bauhaus metal workshop, making her one of the first women to lead a workshop at the school. Beyond her Bauhaus contributions, Brandt worked as a designer for the metalware company Ruppelwerk and later engaged in teaching and visual arts. Her legacy lies in her commitment to combining functionality with elegant simplicity, which helped shape modern industrial design and challenged gender norms within the field.