Alessi — ES03 | Sottsass butter dish in steel and glass

There is something surprisingly poetic about an object that keeps butter. The ES03 butter dish knows this well: its polished stainless steel body reflects the light on the table with an almost architectural clarity, while the transparent glass lid reveals the contents like a small domestic display case. The proportions are balanced, and the hand lifting it finds just the right resistance, just the right presence. It is a piece that does not want to hide in the center of the set table — it wants to be seen. Ettore Sottsass, one of the greatest intellectuals of 20th-century Italian design, founder of the Memphis group and an indispensable voice in the debate on material culture, designed this accessory with his customary ability to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Sottsass always believed that everyday objects deserved the same design rigor reserved for architecture or art. The ES03 is a quiet demonstration of this: no excessive gesture, no superfluous decoration, yet an unmistakable personality that moves through the decades without aging. At Stilmobili, we chose the ES03 because it embodies exactly what we look for in the objects we bring: design as an act of care. It is ideal for those who set a table with attention to detail, for those who give gifts with intention, and for those who consider breakfast a small ritual worthy of respect. It pairs naturally with both a contemporary kitchen and a more classic, understated setting. Project notes: polished stainless steel, glass lid. Dimensions 16.5 × 11.5 × 7 cm. Part of the permanent Alessi collection, in production in the spring/summer lineup.