Alessi — ES20 2 | Sottsass pink and red beechwood nutcracker

There is something deeply domestic yet simultaneously uncanny about Alessi's ES20 2: a beechwood nutcracker that seems to have emerged from a postwar dream, taking on pink and red with the nonchalance of someone who has never been afraid of color. The form is essential, turned, almost archetypal — yet that vivid color scheme alone is enough to transform it into an object capable of occupying the table with a presence all its own. It weighs little in the hand, but has the understated solidity of real wood, the kind that warms to the touch and gives warmth in return. Behind this small table tool is the signature of Ettore Sottsass, one of the great masters of 20th-century Italian design, founder of the Memphis group and an irreverent voice in an aesthetic that has always rejected neutrality. Sottsass designed objects for Alessi with the same freedom with which he designed furniture or architecture: without hierarchies between large and small, useful and useless. The ES20 arises from this philosophy — a functional object that is also a statement of style, a fragment of a visual world. At Stilmobili, we chose the ES20 2 because it condenses everything we love about Italian design into just eleven centimeters: the craftsmanship of the material, the boldness of the color, and the ability to make even the most everyday gesture memorable. It is the perfect gift for anyone who collects objects with a soul, or who sets the table with the same care they use when choosing a painting. It is also ideal as a standalone piece in a kitchen or sideboard arrangement. Project notes: Solid beechwood, pink and red finish. Dimensions 6 × 6 × 11 cm. Weight 180 g. Alessi collection, spring/summer program.