Alessi Chin Family

“The Chin Family”
design Stefano Giovannoni with Rumiko Takeda, 2007
in collaboration with the National Palace Museum Taiwan

The extensive nature of its collections puts the National Museum in Taiwan on a par with equally large and renowned Western museums. Books, documents, objects, porcelain, paintings, and calligraphic works originate from the Imperial collections of the Sung, Yuan, Ming and Ch’ing dynasties, and have survived power struggles, transfers from palaces and often moves from city to city under difficult conditions. The collections at the Palace Museum, housed in the Forbidden City, were opened to the public for the first time way back in 1925. China was to undergo many more bloody battles, forcing the nationalist government to move the collections to specifically constructed storage rooms. In the autumn of 1948 it was decided to ship the most valuable objects to Taiwan, where fortunately their cataloguing started. During this period, considerable exchanges were made with other international museums. Today the National Museum in Taiwan could be called the Louvre of the Orient.
The international museum’s desire to broaden its horizons and understand more of western culture, and at the same time promote Chinese history in the West, led to the successful collaboration with Alessi and in particular with the well-established name of Stefano Giovannoni.

The 21st century mascot will be part of the “A di Alessi” brand and bears the name “The Chin Family”. This is an attractive and intelligent set of tiny people, each representing a household task. From the egg cup to the pepper grinder, each member of the “The Chin Family” is moulded in separate pieces and not using a single injection (as in standard injection-moulding technology). The head, hat, pompom, body and feet can be swapped between them and assembled as if they were porcelain figurines. The combination of Alessi tradition and the constant search for new manufacturing methods make Mr. Chin and the numerous delightful members of his family not merely an important merger between two profoundly different cultures, but also a new chapter in playful language. This partnership is a perfect example of how reinventing a product can be a key factor in success. All the characters are therefore produced in separate pieces in order to draw attention to the exquisitely decorated clothes.
It is with all-Italian pride that we can now claim that Stefano Giovannoni has taught the National Museum in Taiwan to speak Alessi.

"Mr. and Mrs. Chin", the Salt and pepper set, has several special features: the central rod  is made from painted metal to increase its durability and robustness, while at the base of each sprinkler and in the two houses a pair of magnets stabilise the sprinklers when they are moved.
The box provides another special feature: it is lithographed on each side with a series of logos that mimic the shapes of “Mr. and Mrs. Chin”, positioned in such a way that once the individual boxes are placed side by side on the shelf, they form a continuous pattern.

“Mr. & Mrs. Chin”, Salt and pepper set in injection-moulded thermoplastic resin (ABS).  Hand-decorated, available in blue and red, or yellow and green.   
dimensions:  cm 12x6 - h cm 14

“Mr. Chin”, the Kitchen timer has a 60-minute mechanism.

“Mr. Chin”, Kitchen timer in injection-moulded thermoplastic resin (ABS). Hand-decorated, available in blue, red and yellow.   
dimensions:  Ø cm 6 - h cm 11

“Mr. Chin”, the Egg cup, is made up of a central body to hold the egg, a salt castor and a spoon. Only the latter is not decorated in order to avoid any direct contact between the paint and food.

“Mr. Chin”, Egg cup with salt castor and spoon in injection-moulded thermoplastic resin (ABS).  Hand-decorated, available in blue, red and yellow.
dimensions:   cm 8x5 - h cm 11

“King Chin” and “Queen Chin”, the two Salt, pepper and spice grinders, feature a ceramic grinder, a durable, washable, high quality, precision material.
The absence of metal parts prevents any oxidation to maintain the high quality standard of these two articles.
Grain regulation is obtained by rotating the screw on the base.

“Queen Chin”, Salt, pepper and spice grinder in injection-moulded thermoplastic resin (ABS).  Hand-decorated, available in blue and red. 
dimensions: cm 7.5x5 - h cm 15

“King Chin”, Salt, pepper and spice grinder in injection-moulded thermoplastic resin (ABS).  Hand-decorated, available in green and yellow.
dimensions: cm 6x5 - h cm 15