Coat Rack in Black Lacquered Metal and Brass, Style of Mathieu Matégot, French, circa 1950

Mathieu Matégot (1910–2001) arrived in Paris from his native Hungary in the 1930s with a background in theatrical design that would directly inform the dramatic, visually transparent quality of his furniture. He became one of the most inventive designers of the French post-war period, distinguished above all by his development of rigitule — a lacquered perforated sheet metal of his own invention that enabled the creation of furniture of extraordinary lightness, combining structural rigour with a graphic, almost weightless aesthetic. Working through his own Ateliers Matégot, he produced chairs, tables, lighting and accessories that combined rigitule with steel rods and brass details, crafting an aesthetic inseparably bound to the optimistic formal language of 1950s Paris.

This coat rack exemplifies the Matégot idiom in compact, functional form: the horizontal frame in black-lacquered metal incorporates a panel of rigitule — its regular perforations both lightening the visual mass and providing a decorative counterpoint to the smooth metal surround — complemented by brass hooks that add a warm metallic accent against the black finish. At 87.5 cm wide, 24 cm deep and 29 cm high, it is scaled for wall mounting, designed to function equally as a practical storage accessory and as a composed graphic object.

Works in the Matégot manner are among the most sought-after in French mid-century design: his language of black enamel, perforated metal and brass reads with exceptional clarity in contemporary interiors and has only grown in resonance with time. A coat rack of this type offers the collector a rare combination of functionality, period authenticity and visual wit — a wall-mounted object that doubles as a considered composition in black and gold.