QS10 TORII STOOL
Riki Watanabe
YEAR: 1957
DIMENSIONS W x D x H : 48 x 35 x 46 (SH) 43cm
FINISH: Natural or dark brown rattan
WARRANTY: 1 Year
LEAD TIME: Approx. 16-18 weeks
Handmade to order in Japan and part of the Y-M-K Nagaoka, Riki Watanabe collection.
Riki Watanabe’s work changed the public’s perception of rattan furniture; his furniture is said to have triggered the revival in popularity of rattan furniture in Japan. The Torii stool was featured in a case study project on housing and furniture in “Modern Living” magazine, and later won Japan’s first Gold Prize at the 1957 Triennale di Milano. It’s a masterpiece, immensely popular, more than half a century after its launch.
The stool is a perfect example of Watanabe’s sense of how to recognise the flexible and gently bending properties of rattan to create a perfectly formed piece of art. Not initially named ‘tori’ by Watanabe, it came to be known as the Torii stool due to its resemblance to a Japanese Shinto shrine gate, a tori.
RIKI WATANABE
(1911 - 2013)
Considered one of the pioneers of post-war Japanese design, he was the first director of the Japan Industrial Design Assoc. (JIDA) and founded the Japan Design Committee.
His Torii Stool (QS-10) and Circular Center Table (QS-40) won the Gold Medal at the Triennale di Milano in 1957.
1949 He established Riki Watanabe Design Office, which continues his legacy today.
QS10 Torii Stool
QR20 Sidetable
QR10NF Sidetable
QR40 Coffee Table