“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 modelling process that tested variables such as leg taper, leg angle, and 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.
The stool’s red-bronze material is a custom alloy based on phosphor bronze with an unusually high copper content. The augmented copper helps limit porosity, increase molten flow in the narrow mould profile, and is also more resistant to corrosion – making the stool suitable for use indoors and out. In either location, the stool will slowly develop a subtle patina.
Honouring central-eastern Canada’s manufacturing heritage, “Geppetto” was cast in sand – the same process used to produce machine parts for heavy industry. 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.
| Weight (kg) | 16 |
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| Dimensions LxWxH | 31x31x48cm (12x12x19'') |
| Number Of Pieces Created | 30 |
