In its gilded version, “Merdolino”, the lavatory brush designed by Giovannoni, is a very special example of paradox squared: a type of object that is indeed fundamental, but usually kept hidden in a corner, but is here rehabilitated in the poetic interpretation of a flower vase, and finally even gilded as if to underline its ineluctable preciousness. - Alberto Alessi

"The effect that these products have had in the context of design has been, I would say, shocking. Even today, I still bear with me the criticism of all those who saw these products as a major threat to the official context of design... Important was that the object had its own identity; an emotional and sensorial dimension. It is clear that there was a strong poetic spirit behind those objects: there was not only a response to the market but also the desire to create objects that could relate to the desires and imagination of the public." Stefano Giovannoni

Part of a collection presented in 1992 that scandalised design prudes, this pretty toilet brush was the champion of the redemption of its type, for the first time considered by the design world. Re-proposed in an all-golden form, it has become a paradoxical object par excellence: it contradicts current logic, surprising with its oddity, and becomes an art object dedicated to collectors.