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Fly-Swatter, "Dr. Skud"

Decorative Arts and Design

Founded in 1921, the Italian housewares company Alessi has earned a reputation for mass-producing stylish, well-made products for everyday use. During the 1980s and 1990s, famous American, French, and Italian architects such as Michael Graves, Alessandro Mendini, Aldo Rossi, and Philippe Starck worked for the firm, executing designs in a postmodernist style marked by the playful, humorous forms shown here.
MEDIUM Thermoplastic resin
DATES designed 1998
DIMENSIONS 17 5/16 x 3 11/16 x 2 5/8 in. (44 x 9.4 x 6.7 cm)  (show scale)
MARKINGS Printed on side of shaft in white: "ALESSI FRANCE"; printed in white script "STARK"
ACCESSION NUMBER 1999.40.71
CREDIT LINE Gift of Alessi S.p.A.
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Yellow fly-swatter, light, with flat, rounded 'V' shaped upper section with symmetrical, pierced small holes of varying depth arranged in a pattern to create an outline of a face with eyes, nose and mouth; narrow thin shaft, widening slightly at base with three long, narrow, pointed horizontal feet with rounded ends. Condition: new/unused.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Philippe Starck (French, born 1949). Fly-Swatter, "Dr. Skud," designed 1998. Thermoplastic resin, 17 5/16 x 3 11/16 x 2 5/8 in. (44 x 9.4 x 6.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Alessi S.p.A., 1999.40.71. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1999.40.71_bw.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 1999.40.71_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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Philippe Starck (French, born 1949). <em>Fly-Swatter, "Dr. Skud,"</em> designed 1998. Thermoplastic resin, 17 5/16 x 3 11/16 x 2 5/8 in. (44 x 9.4 x 6.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Alessi S.p.A., 1999.40.71. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1999.40.71_bw.jpg)