Black Metal Magazine Holder attributed to Mathieu Matégot, 1950s

Magazine holder, designed by Mathieu Matégot. Manufactured by Ateliers Matégot (France), circa 1950. Folded, perforated metal. In original condition, with minor wear consistent with age and use, preserving a beautiful patina. Mathieu Matégot (1910-2001) was a Hungarian and French designer and material artist. He was one of the most renowned French designers of the 1950s. Born and educated in Budapest, he moved to France in the early 1930s, where he worked as a window dresser and women’s clothing designer. He learned metalworking techniques as a prisoner of war in the 1940s, and upon his release began designing furniture, pioneering many of what we now identify as midcentury design tropes, like metal-mounted rattan, steel tubing, and perforated sheet metal. By the 1970s, Matégot returned to producing tapestries.