Flat Iron Holder
c. 1939
Medium
graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 23.3 x 29.1 cm (9 3/16 x 11 7/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 9 1/2" long; 4 7/8" wide; 2" high
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.15854
Art Historical Context
**Flat Iron Holder**, a precise graphite drawing on paperboard by Albert Taxson around 1939, captures the humble yet essential form of a vintage household tool. Measuring 23.3 x 29.1 cm, this work depicts an original object roughly 9 1/2 inches long, evoking the era of sad irons—cast-iron presses heated on stoves for laundry and sewing. Taxson's meticulous rendering highlights the object's ergonomic curves and sturdy proportions, designed for safely gripping scorching irons in early American homes. Created as part of the *Index of American Design* (IAD), a New Deal-era Federal Art Project und...