winged corkscrew, chrome-plated

The first twenty years of an icon.
The "Anna G." corkscrew celebrates its 20th anniversary. Created in 1994 as a mascot for Alessi-Philips, it became one of the icons of the Alessi catalog, a precursor to a small family of objects, all with the same smiling face.

Few people realize that the "Anna G." corkscrew's name comes from a real person, Anna Gili, a designer from Umbria who designs animals. It was Alberto Alessi who came up with the idea of proposing this name, seeing similarities between the image of the corkscrew and the image of the real Anna: her hairstyle and long neck, her gaze, her dancing movements. At the beginning of this project, I took Oscar Schlemmer's mannequins, rooted in their dynamic theater, as a reference point. And then I remembered that as a child, when my grandmother opened a bottle of wine at the table, it always seemed like a good performance to me, a kind of ritual ballet: the turning of the head, the upward and downward movements of the hands, the sound of the cork popping out of the bottle. That's when I decided on an anthropomorphic object. I drew a ballerina, a female figure. It was clear, however, that I had subconsciously drawn a portrait of Anna; she was the inspiration. I created an authentic, genuine portrait, a "Designer's Portrait." Now, as this object enters its twentieth year, it must be said that the name "Anna G." has indeed brought it good fortune. It was later officially presented at the Groninger Museum – which is also celebrating its twentieth anniversary – and since then, this corkscrew has enjoyed widespread popularity, becoming a symbiotic icon in every home. And now, to celebrate this event, I have devised a special edition. I have dressed "Anna G." in a tribal dance mask, perhaps fitting for the forests and legends of Umbria, perhaps fitting for the theatrical feats of the Bauhaus. A new, specially designed spectacle for the occasion.

Features
* facilitates wine opening thanks to lift levers
* part of the popular Anna G. collection launched in 1994

Dimensions
* height: 24.5 cm
* diameter: 7 cm