Willy Guhl Large Diablo Planter

This Willy Guhl planter is the large diablo, an elongated hourglass with a cinched waist that flares out symmetrically into a wide upper basin above a stable conical foot. The vertical proportion draws the eye upward. The fiber cement is a dry, porous, chalky pale gray-white. The lower half of the pedestal has stayed fairly clean, while the flared upper rim carries the heavier wear: patches of earthy brown staining, faint green weathering, and faint vertical seam lines inside the bowl left from the original casting.

It stands 38 inches high and measures 21 inches across the top. It is an original Eternit piece from Switzerland, mid-century. The contrast between the clean base and the stained rim is how we found it and we have left it that way.

Stand it at a front door, in a courtyard, or on a formal patio where an upright form is wanted, planted with a trailing vine or a single clipped shape. It reads well against a plain modern elevation and equally well beside old stone. We have a second diablo of the same size with a flakier surface, so a pair is possible. The Willy Guhl planter is in Marina Del Rey; ask us for photographs and a price, or come and see it.