<I>Sinmi Stool</I>
date: label: Date
content: 2020
name: label: Designed by
content: Norman Teague, American, born 1968
label: Designed by
content: Yohance Lacour, American
label: Subject of
content: Norman Teague Design Studios, L3C, American, founded 2020
notes: label: Caption
content: The Sinmii Stool was designed for leaning rather than sitting and this function is underscored by its name, Sinmi, which is the Yoruba word for "relax." One article states that the design, "...stemmed from his experiences growing up in Chicago, and the relaxed positions people assume in their neighborhoods, such as leaning on a car or a wall, straddling the edge of a sofa. The stool has a curved base that gentry tips forward or backward when in use. Teague acknowledges that users are often apprehensive when first engaging with the work. They ask, 'Am I doing this right?' He finds, however, that people quickly become comfortable with Sinmi, just as they do with new relationships. The experimental design underscores Teague's ambition for finding and redefining the meanings of objects in order to reflect a greater multiplicity of contemporary lifestyles, question norms, and open up opportunities for learning and discover.... Conceived outside of the white-dominated history of design that continues to be reinforced by most textbooks and museum collections, and informed by an interest in interdisciplinary conversations, Teague's practice, and the Sinmi Stool, in particular, makes a case for reexamining established legacies and interrogating the gaps, to open up more alternative, expansive, and inclusive histories of design in America and beyond."
label: Description
content: A Sinmi Stool designed by Norman Teague with leather craftsperson Yohance Lacour. The stool seat is primarily constructed from laminated bent birch plywood and the legs are a matte, ebony finished, Baltic birch. The seat is an inverted U-shape, creating a seat form similar to a saddle. The substrate of the seat is five layers of ebony finished, bent plywood with the interior and exterior surfaces covered in black suede leather and brown and white-and-brown speckled ponyskin. The interior is entirely covered in white-and-brown speckled ponyskin that has been applied in three irregular strips with curvilinear edges. The exterior ponyskin has been applied in three irregular pieces; two small strips at the bottom left and right corners directly opposite from each other, and one large piece that extends from the bottom edge of one side seat to the bottom edge of the other side. Also adhered to the top of the seat is a U-shaped, black suede cut out. The legs are carved from two solid pieces of birch. Each set of outward tapering legs has a long rocker connecting them at the bottom and a shorter horizontal support bar connecting them at the top, forming an isosceles trapezoid shape. Two of the four legs have carved knobs crosswise from each other, extending into the interior. The front and back of the rockers protrude slightly at each corner. The seat is attached to the legs with two copper tone bolts in each of the bottom corners of the seat through rough drill holes visible on the interiors of the chair legs.
place: label: Place made
content: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Furniture design
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design
label: Classification
content: Furnishings, Housewares, and Décor
label: Exhibition
content: Reclaiming My Time
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2023.32
objectType: label: Type
content: seats and seat components
label: Type
content: stools
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Norman Teague Design Studios
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: paint on birch plywood with hair-on leather, metal
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 30 3/4 × 16 1/8 × 16 15/16 in. (78.1 × 41 × 43 cm)