Set of Mathieu Mategot Mid-Century Modern Black Lacquered Sofa, circa 1950

View Similar Items

Mid-Century Modern Italian Sofa, 1950s

Mid-Century Modern Wood Scandinavian Sofa, circa 1950

Mathieu Matégot Mid-Century Modern Set of Four Chairs, France, 1950

Mid-Century Modern Sofa in the Manner of Adrian Pearsall, Circa 1950

Mid-Century Modern Italian Sofa, 1950s, New Upholstery Black Bouclette

Mid-Century Modern Sofa, Europe ca 1950s

1950’s sofa bed/mid century modern daybed

1950's Mid-Century Modern Folding Daybed / Sofa

1950's Mid-Century Modern Paul McCobb Sofa

Mid-Century Modern Sofa in the Manner of Adrian Pearsall, Circa 1950

Mid-Century Modern Black Velvet Lounge Sofa Two Piece Set

Mid Century Sofa, 1950s

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 10

Set of Mathieu Mategot Mid-Century Modern Black Lacquered Sofa, circa 1950

Name: Set of Mathieu Mategot Mid-Century Modern Black Lacquered Sofa, circa 1950
Brand: Mathieu Matégot
Price: 54144.25 USD

Shop All Mathieu Matégot

Mathieu Matégot

With their curvaceous metal surfaces and shapes often resembling sheets of folded paper, Mathieu Matégot's inspiring furniture and lighting designs are easily recognizable and highly sought after by collectors. By working with perforated sheet metal and metal tubing, the Hungarian-born French architect, artist and designer — who is known by aficionados for his “rigitulle” technique — created tables, chairs and decorative objects that are celebrated works of French modernism and make a statement in any interior.

Matégot attended the Budapest School of Fine Arts and Architecture. He graduated in 1929 and traveled before settling in Paris in 1931, where he worked as a window dresser for department stores and as a set designer for cabaret halls.

In 1939, Matégot joined the French army in resistance to invading Nazi forces. He was soon captured and sent to work in a German factory. It was at this factory where Matégot became familiar with the materials and techniques that would inform and inspire his trademark rigitulle method.

After the war ended, Matégot opened a workshop in Paris and began to create handcrafted furniture that didn't conform to established styles of the time. Matégot explored merging traditional and non-traditional materials — he worked with formica, glass and natural materials such as rattan — and engaged in other forward-looking experiments. Matégot soon patented his career-defining rigitulle technique and material, which saw the designer working with metal tubing and perforated metal sheets and producing thin, airy folds into the metal as if he were manipulating fabric or paper.

Many of Matégot’s designs for table lamps, pendants, tables and more are reflective of the rigitulle technique, but the best-known work that exemplifies this process is his elegant three-legged Nagasaki chair, which he exhibited in 1954 at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs. The original Nagasaki chair gave way to a collection that included a stool and an armchair. Matégot’s Nagasaki dining chair has been reissued by Gubi and is part of the permanent collection at the Vitra Design Museum, which is home to one of the world’s most important furniture collections.

Matégot created a range of smaller items for the home — serveware, side tables and magazine racks, each distinctive in their fluid and organic forms — but halted his career in design and moved to Angers in the early 1960s in order to turn to creating art. Today he is known for his abstract tapestries as well as his furnishings.

Find vintage Mathieu Matégot furniture on 1stDibs.