Juicy Salif
Lemon Squeezer
1990 (designed)
1990 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The 'Juicy Salif' became a best selling item for Alessi. It represents one of Philippe Starck's most influential and controversial designs and today, continues to serve as a status symbol, particularly among the intended market of young, middle-class professionals.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Juicy Salif (manufacturer's title) |
| Materials and techniques | Alumium, cast and polished, nylon tips. |
| Brief description | 'Juicy Salif', designed by Philippe Starck, 1990. Cast and polished aluminium. Manufactured by Alessi |
| Physical description | A cast and polished aluminium lemon squeezer in the form of an inverted, elongated drop moulded with regular vertical grooves (forming a waving pattern) and standing on three, tall, curved, `L' shaped, spider-like legs with nylon tips extending from the base. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | ALESSI/ITALY (Stamped on the upper section of one of the legs.) |
| Gallery label | Juicy Salif
Philippe Starck
France, 1990
With Juicy Salif, Phillipe Starck radically reimagined what a lemon squeezer could look like. Taking inspiration from a calamari lunch he once had in Capri, the squeezer head is elevated on four spindly legs to resemble a squid. Its theatricality has helped it become a bestseller even though its design sacrifices much of its functionality. |
| Credit line | Given anonymously |
| Object history | The 'Juicy Salif' lemon squeezer was a classic of postmodern product design of the 1990s. Designed by the internationally renowned French designer Philippe Starck for the Italian firm Alessi as part of the 1986 Project Solferino (a collaborative project between Alessi and Francois Burkhardt from the Centre de Creation Industrielle at the Beabourg in Paris), the 'Juicy Salif' was among the first of Philippe Starck's designs for Alessi, along with a kettle, wall clock and colander. The design of the 'Juicy Salif' is innovative, futuristic and relatively functional. As opposed to other citrus squeezers, the 'Juicy Salif' allows juice to flow straight into a glass (pips and pulp included!), rather than passing through a sieve into a dish, and provided a simplified alternative design option for an everyday kitchen task. The form of the squeezer was inspired over a lunch of squid garnished with lemons on the Isle of Capri, and therefore has much in common with this curious marine species - long legs and an inverted, drooping body. It is an excellent example of innovative design with a sense of humour and of high production standards of mass market articles, for which Alessi is so well known, and which helped to position the firm at the forefront of international design from the 1980s. The 'Juicy Salif' became a best selling item for Alessi. It represents one of Philippe Starck's most influential and controversial designs and today, continues to serve as a status symbol, particularly among the intended market of young, middle-class professionals. The Juicy Salif was included in ‘Values of Design’ at the V&A Gallery, Design Society in Shenzhen, China in 2017. |
| Summary | The 'Juicy Salif' became a best selling item for Alessi. It represents one of Philippe Starck's most influential and controversial designs and today, continues to serve as a status symbol, particularly among the intended market of young, middle-class professionals. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.22-2016 |
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| Record created | September 25, 2015 |
| Record URL |
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