The image on the ashtray is Muniz’s interpretation of Caspar David Friedrich's 'The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog' (1818, Hamburger Kunsthalle) as captured in cigarette ashes. Muniz’s image depicts a man standing on a mountain ridge looking into a misty valley. Originally created from actual cigarette ashes, for this multiple Muniz adds a few very lifelike used cigarette butts as clues to the medium and as a play on the function of the actual ashtray. 

Brazilian mixed-media artist Vik Muniz uses everyday non-traditional materials such as dirt, diamonds, sugar, trash, toys and cigarette ashes to create artworks which he then photographs. The images for these artworks are inspired by art history, current events and famous figures. At first appearing as somewhat humorous visual statements, Muniz's pieces challenge the viewer to question ways in which visual information is constructed, presented and perceived.  

Each year from 1988 to 2019, the Peter Norton Family commissioned an art edition to celebrate the Christmas season and holidays. The edition was sent to a world wide list of friends, art collectors and art institutions.