From toy to design art at MoMa
Nis Hauge’s trivet encourages play and creativity at the dining table while waiting for the food to come.
Here’s the story about a trivet that was initially planned as a toy but instead ended as one of the choses designs at MoMa.
Most people know H.C. Andersen’s fairy-tale about Numbskull Jack.
The two brothers smear their mouths with cod-liver oil, but it is the third brother that without wisdom but plenty of creativity and the ability of being a good speaker ends up marrying and becoming a king.
Nis Hauge’s version of Numbskull Jack can’t talk. But it’s Danish design with focus on functionality. And also, it makes creativity grow – and that’s almost better than becoming a king.
Pursuing creativity and playfulness
Designer Nis Hauge (1972) initially thought of Numbskull Jack as a toy because it could be twisted and turned in various variations; something that could stimulate children’s creativity, curiosity and fantasy – all keywords and Nis Hauge’s design universe.
Creativity, playfulness, and ideas must be pursued and why not at the dinner table.
Trivet that varies in form and shape
Just like Numbskull Jack in the tale, the Numbskull Jack trivet is… well, clumsy yet extremely charming.
It consists of little modules that can be bent and turned. This makes it vary in form and shape.
Numbskull Jack as a trivet is developed with the idea of creating a functional and recognizable product that is also a playful sculpture at the dinner table and in the little corners of the home.
Its “clumsy” structure makes it possible to create lifelike figures – and letting creativity flow is perfect pastime while waiting for the trivet to protect the table from hot pots and platters.
Make up your own adventure
Numbskull Jack comes in a large and small edition. If you both have the big one and the small one – or just two of the same kind – making up your own adventure is close at hand. And they can even sit together, holding hands.
Numbskull Jack has been chosen by MoMa for the collection that collects classical, modern and cutting-edge design products for children and adult.
That is in itself a bit of a fairy-tale. Even though it’s not printed in the guild master’s newspaper.
