Edgar Brandt, a superb craftsman who employed all the skills of the traditional French metalsmith, was one of the most accomplished exponents of the French Art Deco style. This door combines stylized flower forms and rippling scalloped bands rendered in contrasting textures, forming a free pattern of extraordinary richness and creating a sense of highly charged motion. The floral motif evokes Persian miniature painting, reflected in its name.
The door was presented to the public at the 1923 Salon d’Automne, one of the many annual exhibitions in Paris where visitors could see ensembles and room settings promoting the latest styles by the best-known French decorators. For the designers, participation was arduous and costly (considering that entirely new displays had to be created for each exhibition), but nonetheless they fully understood the commercial value in bringing their names before the public. The Metropolitan Museum bought this door directly from Brandt in 1924.
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Paris. Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées. "Salon d'Automne," November 1–December 16, 1923, no. 227 (included among listing for "Quelques ferroneries").
New York. Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution. "L'Art de Vivre: Decorative Arts and Design in France 1789–1989," March 30–July 16, 1989, unnumbered cat. (fig. 41; as "'Persia' door").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Modern Metalwork in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 1, 1993–April 3, 1994, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Century of Design, Part I: 1900–1925," December 14, 1999–March 26, 2000, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art Deco Paris," June 8, 2004–February 6, 2005, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of French Art Deco," August 4, 2009–January 23, 2011, no catalogue.
New York. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. "The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s," April 7–August 20, 2017, no. 45 (as "Perse Door").
Yvanhoé Rambosson. "Le Salon d'Automne: Les Arts appliqués." L'Amour de l'art 4 (November 1923), p. 755, ill. p. 753 (the matching door exhibited in Exh. Paris 1923), calls it "Porte de séparation".
Guillaume Janneau. Le Fer. Paris, 1924, pls. 11 (installation photo, Exh. Paris 1923), 13.
J[oseph]. B[reck]. "Accessions and Notes: Modern Decorative Arts." Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 19 (November 1924), p. 275, fig. 1.
"Rare Watch Fobs on Display To-day at Metropolitan. Portrait by Copley Added. Rare Furnishings Shown." New York Herald Tribune (November 17, 1924), p. 15.
Galeries Edgar Brandt. Ferrobrandt, Inc. New York, [1926], ill. p. 34, as "Perse".
W[illiam]. Francklyn Paris. "The Rejuvenescence of Wrought Iron." Architectural Forum 50 (January 1929), ill. p. 95.
Amy Fine Collins. "Civilized Liberties." Art in America 77 (November 1989), p. 168, dates it 1925.
Barbara Burn, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd rev. ed. (1st ed., 1983). New York, 1994, p. 462, no. 55, ill. (color), calls it "'Persia' Door".
Joan Kahr. Edgar Brandt: Master of Art Deco Ironwork. New York, 1999, pp. 110, 178, figs. 117, 179 (the matching door shown at the Galerie Edgar Brandt, Paris, 1926), calls it "La Perse".
Grace Glueck. "When They Said No to Frills." New York Times (December 17, 1999), p. E46.
Joan Kahr. Edgar Brandt: Art Deco Ironwork. Atglen, Penn., 2010, pp. 94, 152, figs. 137, 200 (the matching door shown at the Galerie Edgar Brandt, Paris, 1926), calls it "La Perse".
Jared Goss. French Art Deco. New York, 2014, pp. 37–38, 241 n. 2, p. 252, no. 4, ill. pp. 35 (color detail), 36 (installation photo, Exh. Paris 1923), 38 (color), calls it "'Perse' Grille".
Sarah D. Coffin inThe Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s. Exh. cat., Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York. Cleveland, 2017, pp. 235–36, 330, no. 45, fig. 289 (color).
Edgar Brandt (French, Paris 1880–1960) (and workshop)
ca. 1920–50
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