Willy Guhl Conical Planter

A large Willy Guhl planter, 29 inches across the top and funneling down on a steep, unbroken diagonal to a compact round base. There is no surface pattern; the shape does the work. The outside is heavily weathered, ash gray with charcoal patches and distinct rust-colored mineral spots near the bottom. A dark collar of old lichen and moss rings the upper edge and bleeds down into the interior, where vertical tracks of earthen residue show where water has drained for years.

It measures 29 inches in diameter and 16 inches high, deep enough for the root mass of a small tree or a large architectural plant. It is an original Eternit piece, Swiss, mid-century. The lichen, the rust marks and the sediment inside are the record of its life outdoors, and we have left them.

The scale suits an open terrace, a motor court or a large entry hall, and the fiber cement takes full exposure. The cool gray sits well against wide-plank timber, raw steel or a plain lime-plaster wall, where the tapered profile stands clear. This Willy Guhl planter is in our yard in Marina Del Rey; we can send more photographs and a delivered price if you ask.