Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 20. (Budapest, 2001)

Mária FERENCZY: On the history of the Netsuke collection of the Ferenc Hopp Museum - on the Occasion of the Publication of its Catalogue

it got into Ferenc Hopp

's collection from Delmár's, and subsequently became part of the collection of the Hopp Museum (Showroom container No. 21, Item 26; in the Collection Catalogue: No. 535, Inv. No. 890, see 111. No. 5). However, we can assume that there were several such netsuke. In the next one and a half decades, Ferenc Hopp visited Japan again, and he increased his collection significantly also by pieces from the Hungarian and West European art market. In doing so, he also relied on the help of Zoltán Felvinczi Takács. Eva Cseh describes the netsuke collection of Ferenc Hopp as follows: "Although the number of netsuke in Hopp's collection is smaller than in the great European collections of his age, most of the items in his collection are of very good quality and lasting value. Ferenc Hopp's netsuke constitute a proportionate and balanced collection, offering an overall view of the genre. At the same time, some important types are missing. For example, there are no items from the Iwami school. Other significant schools and masters are also represented by only one or two items. "Figurai pieces were also Hopp's favourite type of netsuke. However, a man)\i-kagamibuta collection of over 30 items shows that his preferences were not restricted to figurai netsuke {see 111. No. 6). As regards figurai pieces, he demonstrably had some favourite themes and motifs. Pieces representing creatures from religion, beliefs {see 111. No. 7), mythology, folklore, legends and historical heroes constitute the largest group, but animals are represented in almost the same number. Of all animals, shishi (lions), which can be regarded also as mythical creatures, are represented in the highest number (see 111. 8). The 22 shishi in the collection represent almost every existing variation, including the simplest forms. One of the most frequent types of netsuke, shishi can be considered as a separate group also on the basis of form and meaning: the seals with shishi-shaped handles, imported from China, considered one of the oldest types of netsuke. Of representations of existing animals, dogs, especially puppies are the most frequent (see 111. No. 9). Then follow rats and monkeys, and there are tigers, oxen, rabbits, poultry and birds, snails, shells, frogs etc., and groups of insects and plants. Representations of everyday characters, phenomena and activities also constitute a major group. It must be mentioned here that all the monkey-trainers (sarumawashi), pieces representing a characteristic type of early netsuke art (see 111. No. 10), were collected by Hopp. Half a dozen of items represent proverbs, common sayings and puns. Judging by their number, child figures were among Hopp's favourites. Most of them are karako, that is, little boys in Chinese attire, constituting one of the largest group in the collection (see 111. No. 11). Many of them are from the earliest periods and are simple, similar to each other, yet still show considerable variety. We have only approximate data about the number of items in the netsuke collection Ferenc Hopp left to the museum. The reason for this is that Zoltán Felvinczi Takács exchanged some of them and he also sold a few items to replace them by new ones in order to make the collection more complete and to raise its standard through the acquisition of pieces of higher quality."

27 By 1910, Hopp had come to the decision that he would bequeath his collection to public collections. A few months before his death in 1919, he decided that he would offer the collection, together with his villa surrounded by a beautiful garden, to the Hungarian state for the foundation of a museum that presents art from Eastern Asia.

28 On the basis of Ferenc Hopp's will, the Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts was established in September 1919. Zoltán Felvinczi Takács was appointed the museum's first director. Under the supervision of the Museum of Fine Arts, Felvinczi Takács transformed the founder's private collection into a real museum. During this process, the Hopp Museum incorporated not only Count Péter Vay

's Japanese collection and the Oriental collection of the Museum of Applied Arts but also Oriental art objects from other public collections in Budapest.

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