MCM in the Room - The Butterfly Chair

Hi Mister Modtomic readers!  It's CT from Living Analog.  I am so excited that the Mister asked me to contribute to his blog.  It's great to join forces with Nick Armadillo and Secondhand Hannah to bring some extra content to the Modtometrists.  Upon writing this, it kind of sounds like those three have super-thrifting-hero names - I may need to rethink my Internet moniker.  At any rate, my goal here at Mister Modtomic is to be the MCM "Calgon, Take Me Away" of your day.  What on earth does that mean?  It means I'll be highlighting MCM furniture in situ after beautiful situ.

For today, I thought I'd start you off with something I've been dreaming of for a while - the Butterfly Chair.  Also called the Hardoy chair or the BKF chair after (one of its) creators, Jorge Ferrari Hardoy.  Why the other two guys didn't make it into MCM history is any one's guess.  MOMA has one of the three original Butterfly chairs and then Knoll added it to its line back in 1947.  However the chair could not be patented because it was found to already be a derivative of another chair.  Thus copies, knock-offs and many similar-but-not-quite Butterflies abound in our world.  And I think I know why - they can fit themselves into just about any style.

A lot of times you will see the Butterfly in an outdoor setting - their hardy metal frames and removable sling seats make them easily adaptable to the weather.  From the "Life of an Architect" blog, this image may immediately make you say "I want to go to there."

This lovely, dark and moody space comes from a marketing image for Nani Marquina's African House line of rugs.  This Butterfly has found its way into a more eclectic and industrial style loft living space.

Morgan Satterfield of The Brick House blog fame has always done right by the Butterfly.  She has them in both the indoor and outdoor spaces of her sparse but delightful Hemet, CA home.

Get ready to see the Butterfly out of its usual habitat here - this is the Paris apartment of Nicolas Ghesquiere, former creative director for Balenciaga.  Near as I can track these images through the tangled mess that our Internet has become, this image was taken for the first fashion-focused "World of Interiors".  

Also in Paris, Vanessa Bruno's apartment is the diaphanous stuff that girly dreams are made of.  This shot was shown on Bodie and Fou for a reproduction chair but google her kitchen sometime for some more eye candy.  Good stuff.

Okay I could go on and on dreaming of Butterflies.  These last two struck me as looking like homes real people could live in.  From My Design Chic (what was originally maybe a UO ad?) and Elements of Style (really in her sunroom), here's two more livable Butterflies.

And last but not least, on my Internet travels I found many a Butterfly round-up already "floating" around.  I found one site, however, that is all things Butterfly, all the time.  And it's in Spanish so I'm not quite sure what they're saying but the images are cool.  Check it out here.

Thanks for reading and I'll be back soon with the curvy and scintillating Panton chair - what MCM sheep dream about at night.  Cheers - CT