Pinocchio

This toilet brush holder has been designed by Raffaele Iannello taking inspiration by the famous Collodi’s tale, in which the woodworker Geppetto often has to repair the mischiefs that his loved puppet Pinocchio gets into. In developing this object the idea was that one day the poor woodworker, at the end of his tether, was so infuriated with Pinocchio that, instead of rebuilding the body parts that were accidentally burned (perhaps when he fell asleep on the furnace), decided that it was better to remove the remaining ones. This way he wouldn’t be able to cause any more problems and he would finally be useful for cleaning the house.

The hat, whose tip is bent 90 degrees so that it rests on the ground, serves as a base and container for the toilet brush. Pinocchio’s head, once extracted from the base/hat, can be used to clean the internal walls of the toilet thanks to its hair which is actually the bristles of a common toilet brush.

The product was presented as a prototype during the Milan Design Week 2004 and arrived on the market in 2005. In 2007 it was withdrawn from the market because the company to which the designer had granted the license to produce it was first sentenced because he didn’t pay royalties and then declared bankruptcy (the whole story, which also involved other products designed by Raffaele Iannello, is told in detail on this page).

In recent years the product has been exhibited in contemporary art museums (for example this) and published in various prestigious publications (for example this).

During 2024 the Pinocchio toilet brush will return to sale again in an updated and improved version. There will also be other products in the same collection.