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a small wooden table with a small shelf on top of ita small wooden stool sitting on a white surfacea small wooden stool sitting on top of a white floora small wooden stool on a white surfacea small wooden table with a wooden top on a white surfacea small wooden box that is open on a white surface
FRANCOIS EPIN ART & DESIGN CONSULTING

Estimate €600 - €800
Sale commission
Description
Max Bill Ulm Stool Stool Solid pine, joined with multiple mortise and tenon joints Produced by Zanotta, Italy Date of design: 1954 H44 L39 D29 cm Designed in 1954 by the Swiss architect, artist and designer Max Bill, the Ulm Stool (Sgabillo) was originally conceived for the Ulm School of Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm), which had recently been established and of which Bill was the first rector. Conceived as an honest, multifunctional object for everyday use, this stool reflects the school’s commitment to clarity, functionality and constructive rationality — principles inherited from the Bauhaus and reinterpreted for the post-war era. Originally produced in the school’s joinery workshop, this model gained international recognition thanks to its remarkable versatility and ingenious simplicity. In the early 1970s, the Italian manufacturer Zanotta incorporated the stool into its permanent collection under the name ‘Sgabillo’, thereby helping to establish it as one of the most enduring icons of modern furniture design. Still in production today, it features in the permanent collections of major museums around the world, notably the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Crafted from solid pine with precision-executed finger-jointed joints, the stool can serve equally well as a seat, a side table, a desk or a shelving unit. Reduced to its essential geometry, it perfectly embodies Max Bill’s belief that beauty arises from proportion, precision and function. This example, produced by Zanotta, is in very good original condition; it features a rich, uniform patina as well as slight surface scratches consistent with its age. A timeless masterpiece of 20th-century design and a benchmark of functional modernism.
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About the sale Sculptural furniture and functional art
Auction location
Auction time 09/27/2026 at 2:30 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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