As Bosse’s most famous and most desirable figural work in brass, the stacked hedgehog set has also been the design most frequently sought by collectors, and, perhaps not surprisingly, the design most frequently counterfeited. With fakes and forgeries flooding the market over the years since the hedgehogs were first made, and an increasing demand for Walter Bosse’s work, we decided that the time was right to produce the original Bosse hedgehog ashtray again—utilizing Bosse’s original molds, just as his team of craftspeople had done many decades ago.
For quite a while now, we have seen unauthorized hedgehog ashtray forgeries being sold online using Walter Bosse’s name.
Most of them are vintage fakes, created by Bosse’s unscrupulous competitors and copycats during his lifetime. Bosse fought hard against this, making tremendous personal sacrifices to protect the integrity of his work and his name. His legal battles set precedents in the protection of copyright and intellectual property for creative artists. We look at this new set of authorized reproductions as an opportunity to honor Bosse’s work and legacy, adhering to the same high standards of materials and workmanship to which he devoted his life.
We would also like to set the record straight, once and for all, by explaining the characteristics that indicate the differences between an original Bosse hedgehog ashtray set and a reproduction:
We are proud to be able to give Walter Bosse collectors worldwide a new chance to own the design that best represents his life’s accomplishments.