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Clam tray/Ashtray

Publisher/Manufacturer : Mebel

Production period : 1970's

Circa : 1969

Country of production : Italy

Special features : Clam is part of the Plastic Design Collection of the Design Museum Brussels

Materials : Mass-coloured melamine resin, industrially moulded; two identical shells with notched, interlocking rims

Dimensions : 16 x 8 x 16 cm

COL AF 01 cream

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Designed in 1968 by Alan Fletcher and produced by Mebel from the early 1970s, the Clam catch-all or ashtray brings the British designer’s playful graphic approach to a domestic object. Two circular, domed shells with notched rims fit together to form a closed container resembling a seashell. When separated, each half may be used as an ashtray or catch-all, with the peripheral notches serving as cigarette rests.
Industrially moulded from coloured melamine resin, Clam has a smooth, glossy surface and was produced in monochrome or contrasting colour combinations. Its apparent simplicity depends on the precision of its interlocking elements, which provide closure, function and a distinctive visual identity.
Its value lies less in the material itself than in the ingenuity of its concept and its status as an icon of Pop design. Complete early Mebel editions bearing the manufacturer’s and designer’s marks have become rare. An example is held in the collection of the Museum of Design in Plastics in the United Kingdom.

Designer :

Alan Fletcher

Alan Fletcher is one of the leading figures of British design in the second half of the twentieth century. Trained in London and then in the United States, he developed a distinctive approach in which graphic design, visual communication, and product design mutually informed one another. As a co-founder of the Pentagram agency, he championed a humanistic vision of design, grounded in simplicity, formal intelligence, and the ability of objects to create a sensitive relationship with the user. Among his iconic creations, the Clam ashtray and pocket emptier, designed for the Italian manufacturer Mebel in the 1970s, illustrates his taste for forms that are both functional and playful. Composed of two identical shells that fit together or can be used separately, this melamine object reflects his interest in modularity, color, and the expressiveness of materials. At the intersection of industrial design and graphic culture, Alan Fletcher’s work continues to influence contemporary creation.

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