Geppetto Stool/Side Table

Geppetto, intended for use as a stool or side table, is a single sculptural casting of solid red bronze with an opening in the top that acts as an ergonomic carrying handle.

Geppetto contemporizes and optimizes the classic three-legged stool that the eponymous elderly woodcarver sits on in Carlo Collodi’s 1883 fairy-tale novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, which in turn spurred the 1940 Disney film.

The stool’s shape was arrived at through an extensive iterative, parametric modeling process that tested variables such as leg taper, leg angle, and leg angle relative to seat thickness. Proportions were optimized to create the object with the lightest weight and highest performance that could be cast as a single, balanced piece.

Creating a unitary structure was a formidable challenge. Typically, a product of such complex geometry is made in parts, with the top fastened to the base. Exploiting the fact that Geppetto is radially symmetrical, the full mould was made economically with a tool that extends over a mere third of the stool’s circumference.

The stool’s red-bronze material is a custom alloy based on phosphor bronze with an unusually high copper content. The augmented copper enhances the stool’s corrosion resistance and makes the stool suitable for use indoors and out. In either location, the stool will slowly develop a subtle patina.

The sand-casting process produces faintly perceptible irregularities that enhance Geppetto’s tactile appeal.

The base has a peened finish; the top is available in a mirror polished finish.