Vitra's Girard Bird was born in the 1940s, when American designer Alexander Girard experimented with different materials to make sculptures. In addition to works in glass, cardboard and plywood, he also carved figures from solid wood - including a sympathetic bird figure, the Girard Bird.
The original bird, hand-carved from apple wood by Girard, is preserved in the archives of the Vitra Design Museum, but in 2021 Vitra, together with the Girard family, brought a maple wood version of the bird into its collection. The archaic-looking sculpture can be made to stand on its legs or tail, and can also be used, for example, as a bookend.