Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 15. (Budapest, 1995)
ÁCS Piroska: „Átváltozások" - Stobwasser-szelencék dekorációinak művészeti párhuzamai
ters. Consequently, hallmarks or initials are only very rarely indicated on boxes beside the stamped signature of the firm. 3 ) The boxes discussed in this paper, and examined in the light of their actual or possibel models, are good examples of the different methods of transference used for their decoration. The first box belongs to the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts. 4 The scene represented on the 9.3 cm diameter lid is, as confirmed by the incription on its inside, a choir scene based on a work by William Hogarth (Fig. 1.). The original of the picture is a copperplate engraving entitled "A Chorus of Singers" (1732; 13,7 x 7,8 cm) (Fig. 2.). 5 The first impression of this ornamented the subscription list of another Hogarth creation, "Modern Midnight Conversation". It was later sold, in 1737, as part of the four-part series which became famous under the name "Four Groups of Heads" or "Charakters (sic) of Heads in Groups". The print shows the rehearsal of the oratorio "Judith". The author of the text was William Huggins, 6 and the music was written by William de Fesch. 7 The work was first performed on February 16, 1733 at the Lincoln's Inn Fields. Although, with its Old Testament theme, the oratorio corresponded, to the English puritan spirit of the time, the performance did not live up to expectations. 8 On the print, the conductor stands at the top of a human pyramid. It seems that he has lost his wig on account of his violent gesticulations, but he appears to have had sufficient presence of mind to fasten his glasses to his head with a piece of string. On the paper lying in front of him, the title is easily legible: "JUDITH: an ORATORIO: or, SACRED DRAMA by...". The scores held by the singers all show the same passage: "... the world shall Bow to y Assyrian Throne". If we did not know for a fact that this print was made before the first performance, the choice of words could appear ironical. It is impossible to represent sounds, and yet Hogarth has attempted to defy this impossibility. The soprano, tenor, baritone and bass sounds are reflected so clearly on the faces of the performers and in their bodily postures that we almost hear the vehemence of the piece. Probably, the group can does not show the actual choir, but rather general characters, 9 since the singers are adjusting their facial expressions to the festive text involuntarily. A comparison of this print with the box shows that while the miniaturist carefully respected the composition of the original, he handled the details somewhat freely. The main differences reside in the choice of colours, as the print had no painted model. Hogart usually proceeded inversely: he transposed his oil paintings onto copper plates. A good master should certainly have been capable of imitating his delicate, somewhat languid colour scheme. But the real divergence appears in the details. The homogeneous character of the groups singing the men's parts, linked to similarity of age within one voice, is lost in the lacquer picture. There are four children in the left corner of the lithograph. Their faces reflect concentration and application; only the child looking up expresses the ecstatic rapture corresponding to the situation. An excuse could be that the original work also laks cohesion as far as this unit is concerned: we see that there is a little boy standing, rather out of place, by a group of three paunchy and intently singing gentlemen. The young group of tenors, aligned vertically on the left, appears on the lid of the box to have grown old. The four bass singers part are placed in the centre of the picture, and are of central importance. While the whole heavy, respectabled and wig-wearing group stands in focus on the etching, only one of them exhibits that kind of presence on the miniature. The bottom righthand corner is occupied by the baritones. The group is crowned by a figure holding a magnifying glass before his eye in an affected pose. This group is perhaps the only one to have been transposed in its original form to its new medium. The second picture of the series "Four Groups of Heads" mentioned above was made in 1733, and bears the title "The Laughing Audience" or "Pleased Audience". It depicts the audience of a theatre during an "invisible" performance - maybe an early Fielding burlesque. The print "The Lecture", made in 1736, also
