J.B. Schmetterling (Butterfly) Hanging Lamp

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Object Timeline

2011	Work on this object began.
2014	We acquired this object. We photographed this object. We exhibited this object. This was an Object of the Day.
2018	We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

J.B. Schmetterling (Butterfly) Hanging Lamp

This is a hanging lamp. It was designed by Axel Schmid and Ingo Maurer and manufactured by Ingo Maurer GmbH. It is dated 2011 and we acquired it in 2014. Its medium is glass, plastic, brass, halogen light source. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

Ingo Maurer is one of the most creative and respected lighting designers working today. Since the 1960s, he has been a pioneer in the use of new lighting technologies and imaginative production techniques to investigate the "magical and mystical" qualities of light. The J. B. Schmetterling (butterfly in German) lamp explores this concept by infusing a simple light bulb with a poetic consideration of themes like nature and attraction.
This hanging lamp is based on the light bulb form of his 2002 design, the Johnny B. Good lamp. In this variation, Maurer has added eight highly realistic replicas of flying insects. Colorful iridescent butterflies, moths, and dragonflies attached to long pins are applied to the simple translucent band around the bulb. The scene appears to be a moment frozen in time, as captivated insects hover around the lamp's bright, dangerously hot light. To achieve this design, Maurer collaborated with Axel Schmid, a longstanding member of his design team, and worked with American nature photographer and artist, Graham Owen, who specializes in handmade life-like fishing lures and artificial insects for moviemakers. The lamp is an unusual combination of industrial and artisanal techniques, resulting in a functional form that allows the user to bring a sense of nature to an indoor environment. The form invites one to contemplate the beauty of nature, the beauty of light, and—on an existential level—the nature of attraction and compulsion.
Given Maurer’s creativity and innovations in the area of lighting, he is a designer the museum’s curators continue to follow. At the time of proposed acquisition, the museum holds a group a Maurer designs that have allowed us to trace his work from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. The addition of the J.B. Schmetterling lamp would bring the museum’s collection of his work into the 21st century.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled A Little Bit of Spring.

This object was donated by Graham Owen and Ingo Maurer GmbH. It is credited Gift of Ingo Maurer GmbH and Graham Owen.

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Our curators have highlighted 3 objects that are related to this one.

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Close-up photograph of transparent bulb-shaped glass globes each containing an insect replica. Two bulbs are in focus in the foreground, set against a background with a large number of similarly sized glass bulbs hanging next to each other at different heights. The glass bulbs are suspended individually on a metal wire and are each illuminated by a cold light. The photograph highlights the many light reflections on the bulbs. In the two bulbs in the foreground, on the right we see a replica of a blue-bodied, large-eyed, black-winged damselfly or dragonfly. In the bulb on the left, the insect replica has amber-orange wings and a body shape that reminds of a moth. In a third, out-of-focus bulb, we recognize a butterfly replica.

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Bulb Lamp
mold-blown glass, chrome-plated metal, incandescent bulb.
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Its dimensions are

H x diam.: 46 x 32 cm (18 1/8 x 12 9/16 in.)

Cite this object as

J.B. Schmetterling (Butterfly) Hanging Lamp; Designed by Ingo Maurer (German, b. 1932), Axel Schmid (German, b. 1971); Manufactured by Ingo Maurer GmbH (Germany); Germany; glass, plastic, brass, halogen light source; H x diam.: 46 x 32 cm (18 1/8 x 12 9/16 in.); Gift of Ingo Maurer GmbH and Graham Owen; 2014-7-1-a/c

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibitions Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color and Making Design.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/72NBv/
Accession Number 2014-7-1-a/c
Object ID 68250891