Dezeen Magazine

Jolly Roger chairs by Fabio Novembre for Gufram

Milan 2013: Fabio Novembre presented these giant skull-shaped chairs for Italian brand Gufram at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile last week.

Jolly Roger chairs by Fabio Novembre for Gufram

Jolly Roger by Fabio Novembre for Gufram comes in black and white and is made from rotationally moulded polyethylene.

Jolly Roger chairs by Fabio Novembre for Gufram

"When people ask me why I wear a skull on my finger, I always answer that it belonged to my grand-father, who was a pirate, and I think I came to believe it myself," says Novembre. "Everybody should have at least one pirate grand-father in their family tree: it would represent a strong branch to cling to."

Jolly Roger chairs by Fabio Novembre for Gufram

This isn't the first time Novembre has sculpted giant body parts to form furniture: two years ago in Milan he presented huge faces for sitting in and prior to that he launched a pair of chairs that look like kneeling naked figures.

Jolly Roger chairs by Fabio Novembre for Gufram

Fabio Novembre gave us a tour of his home city to kick off the Milan leg of our Dezeen and MINI World Tour. Watch the movie »

See all our stories about Fabio Novembre »
See all our stories about design at Milan 2013 »

Here's some more information about Jolly Roger:


The product is a demand for freedom; a synonym of intellectual independence that follows a brave path, by keeping away from the standardized typological doldrums of the interior design project, and marks a new planning horizon.

Jolly Roger chairs by Fabio Novembre for Gufram

And here is the homage; the scornful tribute to these unwritten codes of audacity and derring- do: Jolly Roger. A chair that formally hints to the skull – the symbol of swagger painted on the red standard of French and then English corsairs and freebooters, terror of the seven seas.

Jolly Roger chairs by Fabio Novembre for Gufram

And it is the globe itself to remain suspended in the internal frame – a map surrounded by the oceans; the desire for insatiable conquest; almost an exhortation not to keep still; a warning: never forget you are sitting on the world.