BUTTERFLY CHAIR, CIRCA 1940

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.