Sgabello Butterfly

Sori Yanagi designed the Butterfly Stool in 1954. Yanagi was one of Japan's most celebrated industrial designers, known for synthesizing European modernist technique with Japanese aesthetic philosophy.

The stool is constructed from molded plywood veneer, available in Maple or Rosewood, with the two shells joined by a brass tension rod that both stabilizes the form and contributes to its visual character.

Yanagi studied the molded plywood bending techniques that Charles and Ray Eames had developed and popularized in the late 1940s, then applied them within a formal language rooted in Japanese design sensibility, arriving at a result that is distinct from the Eames body of work.

Yes. The Butterfly Stool is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, among other major design and art institutions worldwide, reflecting its status as a canonical object of twentieth-century design.

The stool is structurally sound for regular use, though its relatively low seat height and sculptural form make it equally suited as an accent piece or occasional seat. Many collectors and designers place it where it can be appreciated from multiple vantage points.