Torbjorn Afdal Butterfly Chairs, 1950s

Extremely rare "Butterfly" easy chairs designed by Torbjørn Afdal in 1957. Produced by Bjarne Hansen in Norway during the late 1950s.

(Please note, these are priced per chair.)

These gorgeous mid century modern accent chairs epitomize modern design and mid century modernism. The chairs are curvaceous, sumptuous and while Torbjorn Afdal might be a more obscure designer to Danish modern aficionados, he's widely considered the Arne Jacobsen or Hans Wegner of Norway-- and absolute master of modern design. The chairs' design is similar to that of an egg chair or bird chair, with a "chonky" curvaceous back-- like an "egg" shape, but has a sharp clean finished sides like butterfly wings, and built in headrests to match.

These stunning chairs have been re-cushioned and reupholstered in an incredible Groundworks / Lee Joffa Tesselate boucle designed by Kelly Wearstler. The chairs can be seen photographed in our display from the Palm Springs Modernism show, 2020.

Torbjørn Afdal is considered the greatest midcentury designer from Norway, in this day the most well known. He started designing furniture for Bruksbo Tegnekontor in 1946 and went on to design some of Norways most iconic furniture pieces, most allegedly the "Krobo" multi functional bench. He worked with various Norwegian producers as Nejestranda Møbelfabrikk, Haug Snedkeri and Mellemstrands Trevareindustri as well as with Danish cabinetmakers.



Designer: Torbjørn Afdal

Manufacturer: Bjarne Hansen

Year: 1957.