Gallery

Sori Yanagi Butterfly

ProMax

Sori Yanagi bent Japanese Mingei craft into mid-century industry. His 1954 Butterfly Stool — two mirrored panels of molded rosewood or maple plywood joined by a single brass bar — was felt into form by hand rather than drawn on paper. His 1982 white-porcelain tableware carries the same 民藝現代 idiom in warm, matte off-white ceramic. Photographed on a sumi charcoal ground, the pale wood and clay read as quiet, tactile subjects — objects you want to hold before you understand why. This system is that restraint: warmth of the object, darkness of the room, and nothing louder than the material itself.

Learn more about the Sori Yanagi Butterfly style

  • OriginJapan (East Asia)
  • Period1950–1990 (Butterfly Stool 1954; white porcelain tableware 1982)
  • DesignerSori Yanagi (柳宗理) · Sōetsu Yanagi (柳宗悦) · Tendo Mokko · Vitra
  • MovementsMingei folk-craft revival · Japanese mid-century Mingei-modern industrial design

Web examples

3

Slide examples

3