GRUPO AUSTRAL (Est. 1938); attributed
GRUPO AUSTRAL (Est. 1938); attributed

BUTTERFLY CHAIR, CIRCA 1940

Details
GRUPO AUSTRAL (Est. 1938); attributed
BUTTERFLY CHAIR, CIRCA 1940
demountable frame of painted steel rod, leather sling seat with hand-stitched tooled leather
36¾ in. (93.5 cm.) high; 32¼ in. (82 cm.) wide; 36½ in. (93 cm.) deep
Literature
A. von Vegesack (ed.), 100 Masterpieces from the Vitra Design Museum Collection, Weil-am-Rhein, 1995, pp. 114-115 (related example, of manufacture by Artek-Pascoe, illustrated)

Lot Essay

This distinctive sculptural form was perfected in 1938 by Grupo Austral, comprising of the Argentinean designers Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy, Juan Kurchan and Antonio Bonet. The first serial-production examples were manufactured with a fully-welded frame of steel rod by Artek-Pascoe, New York, from 1941. This unusual and early example features a degree of handwork to the leather sling, and a demountable steel frame that references the design's origins in the portable campaign furniture of the nineteenth century.

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