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Sori Yanagi Stools

Japanese, 1915-2011

Sōri Yanagi was a Japanese product designer. Born in 1915 in Tokyo, Japan. His father was Yanagi Sōetsu, founder of the Japanese folk crafts mingei movement, which celebrated the beauty of everyday objects, and the Japanese Folk Crafts Museum (Nihon Mingeikan). Yanagi entered Tokyo Art School in 1934, where he studied both art and architecture. He played a role in the Japanese modern design developed after the Second World War to the high-growth period in the Japanese economy. Yanagi was both a representative of the wholly Japanese modern designer and a full-blown Modernist, who merged simplicity and practicality with elements of traditional Japanese crafts. He designed the official torch for the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. Yanagi died in 2011 at the age of 96.

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Creator: Sori Yanagi
Sori Yanagi Butterfly Stool or Ottoman
By Sori Yanagi, Tendo Mokko
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ottoman designed by Sori Yanagi. The walnut bent plywood frame mirrors one another showcasing a butterfly shape, hence the name. The stool is finished with brass hardware. Dimension...
Category

Mid-20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Brass

Elephant Stool by Sori Yanagi, for Kotobuki, circa 1950
By Sori Yanagi
Located in Venezia, VENETO
Designed by Sori Yanagi in 1954, the elephant stool was released in 1956 in innovative FRP material. Sori Yanagi was fascinated by the adaptability and stability of FRP, a new materi...
Category

1950s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Plastic

Kotobuki Chair by Sori Yanagi, 1969
By Sori Yanagi
Located in Venezia, VENETO
Designed in 1969 by Sori Yanagi, the Kobotuki chair has a comfortable FRP shell seat, steel plated legs and original black and yellow upholstery. Back in the 1960s, this chair was u...
Category

1970s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Steel

Armchair X by Tendo Mokko, circa 1960
By Sori Yanagi
Located in Venezia, VENETO
This very unique vintage armchair has been manufactured by Tendo Mokko in the 1960's. It is a very rare item coming from a facilities in Japan, after the relocation of the warehouse,...
Category

1960s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Wood, Upholstery

Sori Yanagi ‘Elephant’ stool for Kotobuki, Japan 1954
By Sori Yanagi, Kotobuki
Located in Rotterdam, NL
Elephant stool by Sori Yanagi for Kotobuki Seating Company, Tokyo 1954. Yanagi originally designed the stool as a work chair for his studio, a couple of years later it was released b...
Category

1950s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Fiberglass

Elephant Stool by Sori Yanagi for Kotobuki
By Sori Yanagi
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
The Elephant Stool was designed by Sori Yanagi in 1954. This stool, which was released in 1956 with FRP material, which was rare at the time, was used in the pavilion at the 1970 Osa...
Category

1950s Unknown Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Fiberglass

Sori Yanagi Rosewood and Brass Butterfly Stool Vintage
By Sori Yanagi
Located in North Miami, FL
This iconic and collectable butterfly stool is a work of simple and elegant sculpture by the Japanese designer Sori Yanagi. It is rosewood and brass structure. The combination aesthe...
Category

1960s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Brass

Butterfly Stool by Sori Yanagi
By Sori Yanagi
Located in Paris, FR
A butterfly stool, model "S-0521/M", by Sori Yanagi, in wood and patinated brass, manufactured by Tendo Mokko, Japan, with the old editor’s label, model designed in 1954.
Category

1950s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Brass

Sori Yanagi "Butterfly" Mid-Century Stool in Plywood Produced by Tendo ca 1980s
By Sori Yanagi
Located in Stockholm, SE
Rare and great example of Sori Yanagi iconic "Butterfly" stool in bent plywood produced by Tendo Mokko, Japan ca 1980s. This example was purchased by the previous owner in Tokyo in t...
Category

1980s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Plywood

Rare Japanese Stool by Soetsu Yanagi
By Sori Yanagi
Located in Brussels, BE
This stool was made for the In 1936, the Japanese Folk Crafts Museum. Made of Japanese cherry wood and seagrass. Today, you can still see the original benches made for this museum. Yanagi Soetsu (1889 – 1961), also known as Yanagi Muneyoshi, was a Japanese art critic, philosopher, and founder of the mingei (folk craft) movement in Japan in the late 1920s and 1930s. His son, Sori Yanagi, was a renowned industrial designer. In 1916, Yanagi made his first trip to Korea out of curiosity about Korean crafts. The trip led to the establishment of the Korean Folk Crafts Museum in 1924 and the coining of the term mingei by Yanagi, potters Hamada Shoji (1894–1978) and Kawai Kanjiro...
Category

1930s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Seagrass, Cherry

Sori Yanagi Butterfly Stool
By Sori Yanagi
Located in San Francisco, CA
A Sori Yanagi butterfly stool for Tendo in bent rosewood and brass. Literature: Design since 1945, Hiesinger, pg. 137.
Category

1950s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Rosewood

Sori Yanagi, Early Production "Butterfly" Stools Walnut, Brass, Tendo Mokko 1954
By Tendo Mokko, Sori Yanagi
Located in High Point, NC
A set of rare and early organic "Butterfly" stools, designed in 1954 by Sori Yanagi. Produced by Tendo Mokko, Japan. Priced and sold individually. Other designers of the period incl...
Category

1950s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Brass

Sori Yanagi Model "Butterfly" Stool for Tendo Mokko, Japan, 2000s
By Sori Yanagi, Tendo Mokko
Located in Skokie, IL
Sori Yanagi model "Butterfly" stool for Tendo Mokko, Japan, 2000s Additional Information: Materials: laminated walnut, brass Dimensions: 15 1/2" H x 17" W x 12" D Condition: Ex...
Category

20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Walnut

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Previously Available Items
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By Sori Yanagi, Tendo Mokko
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Sori Yanagi, "Elephant" Stool, Fiberglass, Japan, 1954
By Sori Yanagi, Tendo Mokko
Located in High Point, NC
A black plexiglass "Elephant" stool, designed by Sori Yanagi and produced by Kotobuki Seating Company, Tokyo, Japan, 1954.
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Sori Yanagi Elephant stool by Kotobuki, Japan 1954
By Sori Yanagi, Kotobuki
Located in Rotterdam, NL
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Elephant Stool by Sori Yanagi, Habitat Limited Edition, 2001
By Sori Yanagi
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Elephant fiberglass stool by Sori Yanagi, limited edition for Habitat, 2001.No longer in production. The stool has since been reissued by vitra in polypropylene. Originally designed...
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H 12 in W 15.25 in D 16.5 in
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Located in Dronten, NL
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A Sori Yanagi butterfly stool for Tendo in bent rosewood and brass. Marked with label.
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Brass

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  • Sori Yanagi Butterfly Stool
H 15 in W 17 in D 12 in
Elephant Stool by Sori Yanagi
By Sori Yanagi
Located in Paris, FR
An Elephant stool by Sori Yanagi, in black fiberglass, manufactured by Kotobuki Seating Company, Tokyo, Japan, engraved with the editor’s mark and desig...
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1950s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

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Fiberglass

  • Elephant Stool by Sori Yanagi
  • Elephant Stool by Sori Yanagi
  • Elephant Stool by Sori Yanagi
  • Elephant Stool by Sori Yanagi
H 14.97 in Dm 14.97 in
Elephant stool by Sori Yanagi
By Sori Yanagi
Located in Paris, FR
An Elephant stool by Sori Yanagi in blue fiberglass, manufactured by Kotobuki Seating Company, Tokyo, Japan, engraved with the editor’s m...
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1950s Japanese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sori Yanagi Stools

Materials

Fiberglass

  • Elephant stool by Sori Yanagi
  • Elephant stool by Sori Yanagi
  • Elephant stool by Sori Yanagi
  • Elephant stool by Sori Yanagi
H 14.57 in W 14.57 in D 14.57 in

Sori Yanagi stools for sale on 1stDibs.

Sori Yanagi stools are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of wood and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Sori Yanagi stools, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original stools by Sori Yanagi were created in the mid-century modern style in japan during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider stools by Isamu Kenmochi, Akita Mokko, and Pierre Jeanneret. Prices for Sori Yanagi stools can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at £2,161 and can go as high as £5,870, while a piece like these, on average, fetch £3,170.

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