Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 10. (Budapest, 1991)

Új szerzemények 1987-1989 - Adattár

DATA COLLECTION Ciro Ferri (designer)-Giovanni Battista Lenardi (graphic artist)-Andrea Cornely (engraver)-Joseph Friedrich Leopold (engraver): Depictions of a stage-coach 1-3. 1700, Augsburg, copperplate, 17x27.5 cm, Krtf: 2779(1-3). From the Hungarian National Gallery we received a collection of etching and copperplate engravings comprising sixty-four items. This had formerly belonged to the Lanfranconi collection in Pozsony. Most of the pieces are specimen patterns: for iron grates, designs for decoration, sketches for stoves and book-binding decoration, and patterns for plates-all of an applied arts character. The most outstanding of these are the two stage-coach representations which depict the vehicles made for the Earl of Castlemaine, an envoy of King James II of England who was sent on a mission to Pope Vincent XI in 1687. The six pages originally came from a set of sixteen sheets (plus a title cover sheet) published in Augsburg in 1700 by J. Fr. Leopold (1668-1726), engraver and publisher with the title "Ergötzliche Kunst-Shau

... so ehemals bey einer Englishen Extra-Ambassade zu Rom zum Vorschein gekommen". The booklet presents coats of arms, coaches used for long journeys, and table decorations for banquets based on the designs by C. Ferri, A. Cornely, Ph. M. Camers, and others. The original was published in Rome in 1687 on the occasion of the envoy's visit, and is entitled: Raggvaglio della solemne comparsa, fatta in Roma gli otto di Gennaio 1687 dall' ... conte di Castelmaine. Fol. Roma, 1687. (The English edition is dated 1688.) The original drawings were made by Lenardi on the basis of sketches by the designers; the etchings were made by Cornely and the views of Augsburg were engraved by Leopold. The artists and their contributions can be identified by the abbreviations displayed across the bottom of the pages "Ciro ferri Rom

0

: inv., And

3

: Cor

1

, fecit Gio: Batta Lenardi del: Joseph Frid: Leopold exc:"). The three engravings shown here represent three views of one of the ten stagecoaches figuring in the booklet. The coach in front is decorated with two tritons supporting the driver's box. Under the seat are the symmetrical heads of two dolphins emerging out of luxuriant marine vegetation, and a giant shell, in addition to the image of a cherub. On the rear are depictions of Neptune and Ghea with two tritons and two cherubs leading a unicorn and a lion on leashes. The former holds Neptune's trident while the latter holds a crown indicating the authority of the King of England. This is also recalled by the snarling lion, an animal on the royal coat of arms; and also by the crown on the main figure. The two of them aptly represent the two elementswater and land - associated with the envoy's journey by sea and land. Also significant is Neptune who was the god of horses before he became god of the sea. (János Sturcz) Illustrations and book embellishments by Lajos Kozma Krtf: 2635-2641, 2642-2667 In 1987-88 the stock of the Museum of Applied Arts was supplemented by a number of items relating to books, namely by sketches for book embellishment and illustration by Lajos Kozma, architect, industrial designer and graphic artist. In close co-operation with the Kner printing press, a famous Hungarian bookmaking centre at Gyoma, and, indeed, with Imre Kner himself, Lajos Kozma created a special book-binding art which combined local traditions and European standards. The collection, which was purchased, contains numerous drawings and sketches by Kozma, including border decorations, corner and tail-piece ornamentation, initials,