A wooden serving table, model TN6 "Cicognino", manufactured in Italy by Poggi, design by Franco Albini, 1950s.
Some objects embody the quintessence of great design. They possess personality, ingenuity, functionality, and an intuitive appeal that makes them universally loved. The table affectionately known as the "Cicognino" is one such piece. Designed by Franco Albini in the mid-1950s, its evocative form recalls the profile of a bird.
While its lines are simple, this is far from a mere conceptual exercise. This was a time of economic boom in Italy, when furnishings and decorative objects had become consumer goods. Amidst this backdrop, the leading design figures sought—consciously or not—to humanize mass production, which could be banal and impersonal, by creating forms and meanings that evoked a sense of familiarity and domesticity. Albini achieved this goal with remarkable success and without any rhetoric. Indeed, he seemed to play with the very idea of design, freeing it from the realm of the trained mind—and the sterile ruminations of designers for other designers—and making it accessible to the user in a joyful and immediate way. In the "Cicognino," the handle is a beak, and the beak is a handle: simple, immediate, and ingenious.
This table is a renowned collector's item, an original from the period, produced by the Poggi manufactory. It is a prime example of historic design that holds a prominent place in international museums.
Dimensions: Diameter 40cm - Height 80cm
