Stools By Isamu Kenmochi For Akita Mokko, 1960s

Pair of stools by modernist designer Isamu Kenmochi (1912-1971) for Akita Mokko, Japan, original 1960s edition. Hot-bent wooden legs, faux leather seats. Manufacturer's mark under the seat. Apart from cleaning, we have intentionally left the woodwork unrestored to preserve the patina. Some signs of normal wear on the wooden parts and a tiny nick on the seat of the white stool (see photos). Sold as a single pair. H 45 cm x W 33 cm x D 40 cm. Isamu Kenmochi (剣持勇) is one of the founding figures of Japanese industrial design. Trained at the Tokyo Institute of Industrial Arts, and later involved in the postwar reconstruction of Japan, he played a central role in structuring a modern design that reconciled industrial production, everyday use, and traditional craftsmanship. His career was marked by a pivotal stay in the United States in 1952, during which he met Charles and Ray Eames, Marcel Breuer, Eero Saarinen, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. This direct encounter with international modernism led him to develop a specifically Japanese approach to Good Design, attentive to the balance between standardization, ergonomics, and local material culture. Also influenced by Bruno Taut, Charlotte Perriand, and Isamu Noguchi, Kenmochi championed a design with clean, rational lines, conceived primarily for space and function. He himself summarizes this position in his book *Japanese Modern*, where he describes Japanese design as the meeting of deliberately contradictory poles: machine and hand, reason and emotion. The stools designed for Akita Mokko, presented as early as 1958 at the "Apartment Life" exhibition at the Matsuya department store in Tokyo, fully embody this approach. Stackable, modular, and designed for urban life, they illustrate a concept of furniture that is both functional and durable, the production of which continued for over sixty years, until 2021. Without superfluous decorative effects, these pieces rely on balanced proportions and a legible construction, characteristic of Japanese design from the early 1960s, and reflect Kenmochi's desire to make furniture a discreet yet structuring tool of daily life. See these Isabu Kenmochi stools for Akita Mokko, 1960s, in full screen on Vintage Addict