Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 17. (Budapest, 1998)

Mária FERENCZY: The Collecting of Oriental Art in Hungary as reflected in the Collections of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts, Budapest. Exhibition at the György Rath Museum, Budapest

interest and collections are displayed, while visitors can acquaint themselves with characteristic art objects of India, China, Japan, and other Oriental countries. Each of three generations of art collectors and donors is represented by a person of a different type with regard to personality, way of life, field of interest and motives for collecting. The founder Ferenc Hopp has been allotted pride of place, naturally. The furniture of the Memorial Room dedicated to him (Room No. I) could be partly reconstructed with the help of a photograph from 1913. The original showcases now house mainly the art objects visible on the photograph (see the illustration). In other showcases Japanese lacquerware is displayed. These were Ferenc Hopp's favourite pieces. This room has been arranged by Györgyi Fajcsák and Eva Cseh. Room No. II. dedicated to the memory' of Imre Schwaiger (1868-1940), an art dealer originally from Szeged (Hungary) who later settled in Delhi and London, commemorates the greatest of our donors.

12 Pieces systematically given by him form the basis of our Indian and Nepalese collections; and it was these works that raised the collections to international level. Of the pieces presented by Imre Schwaiger, the relatively uniform Tibetan-Nepalese small sculptures and jewels are displayed, as are his unique Chinese art objects. Room No. Ill, the Károly Csapek Memorial Room, contains Tibetan and Chinese small sculptures from the collection of Buddhist art which once belonged to Károly Csapek (1904-76), artist and craftsman, and designer at Hungary's Herend Porcelain Factory. These art objects were collected by the artist in Hungary and bequeathed to the Museum.

13 Several Tibcto-Mongolian Buddhist paintings are also displayed in this room; the most important one originally came from the art collection put together by Emil Delniár (1876-1959). Rooms No. II and No. Ill have been arranged by Béla Kelényi and Györgyi Fajcsák. The remaining three rooms also intend to present collectors and collections. They are named, however, according to the origin of the art objects they contain, representing at the same time the Museum's three major collections: Indian, Chinese and Japanese art. In the Room No. IV the majority of Indian art objects are sculptures. The sculptural material presented by Imre Schwaiger provides an overview of main epochs in Indian sculptural art. This material is supplemented by a number of bronze objects, valuable miniatures and two large textiles. Besides the material donated by Imre Schwaiger, there are also pieces from the collections of Ferenc Hopp, the journalist and art collector Dr. Béla Ágai (18701944), the orientalist-librarian Ferenc Zaj ti (1889-1961) and Dr. Edmund de Linger (London) respectively. The Indian section has been arranged by Zsuzsanna Renner. In the Room No. V the atmosphere is set by a suite of Chinese furniture from the end of the 19

th century, in a reconstruction of a reception-room. The furniture comes mainly from two collections. Dr. Dezső Bozóky (1871-1957), a ship's doctor, collected his objects in the Far East at the beginning of the century, while Dr. Béla Agai, on the other hand, acquired his collections in Budapest during the first half of the 20

th century. Other outstanding pieces of the Chinese collection are shown here arranged traditionally in showcases. They include bronze and jade pieces donated by Géza Szabó (Peking), an art dealer; Count Jenő Zichy; and János Xantits, ethnographer, as well as textile and lacquered works presented by Dr. Ottó Fettick (1876-1954), a professor of veterinary science. One of the three objects representing Chinese Buddhist art from the period before the 10 century is the 6

th-