Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 24. (Budapest, 2006)

Magdolna LICHNER: The reception of electroplates in Hungary I. - Electroplates in the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts 1873-1884

Kugler's book translated into English. The standard book (Handbuch der Geschichte der Malerei, Berlin, 1837; A Handbook of the History of Painting: The German, Flemish and Dutch Schools of Painting, translated from the German by a Lady [Ed. Sir Edmund Head]. London. 1846) influ­enced several generations' attitude to art history. ,: Somers Cocks 1980. pp. 7—11. The special edition of the Catalogue de l'Art Journal, published for the world exhibition (1867. pp. 215-217). The museum catalogue lets us have a glimpse into the electroplate collection of the museum. (Inventory of Reproductions in Metal comprising, in addition to those available for sale to the public, electro­plates bought or made specially for the use of South Kensington Museum, and Schools of Art, Copied by special permission from originals in the Imperial and Government Collections in England, France, Russia. Austria, Italy, Spain, Denmark, and Holland, etc. Manufactured by Elkington & Co., Limited, electrotypists to the Government Museum of Science and Art, London, n. d. [1881]) The illustrated cata­logue of almost 120 pages gives a detailed list of the repro­ductions of goldsmith's works, including those made by contemporaries, with a short description that gives informa­tion on the locality of the original as well as on the artefact's material, technique, and size. " Universal Exhibition Vienna 1873. Illustrations of art manufactures in the precious metals exhibited by Elkington and Co. Inventors, patentees and manufacturers of the elec­troplate. Birmingham, n. d. (1873), 1. 14 "Vielfach steht bei uns der Anwendung und Verbreitung dieser Kunst in artistischer Richtung der offen gestanden, etwas begrenzte Gesichtskreis vieler unserer Liebhaber ent­gegen, welche bei Kunstwerken die Rarität des einzelnen Stücken und das kostbare Material zu schwer in die Wag­schale fallen lassen und das künstlerisch Hauptsächliche, die formelle Vollendung, die Conception, den Reiz der durchgeführten Details, mehr als eine erwünschte Beigabe betrachten." Mittheilungen des K. K. Österreichischen Museums für Kunst und Industrie, Bd. 1. Die Galvano­plastik als Reproduktionsmelhode von Kunstwerken. Wien, 1865. 2. 30. Quoted by Gabriele Fabiankowitsch: Das Vermittlungsprogramm des K. K Österreichischen Mu­seums für Kunst und Industrie. In: Kunst und Industrie. Die Anfänge des Museums für Angewandte Kunst in Wien. Hrsg. Peter Noever, Wien, 2000. 175-192. p. 182. 13 Archives of the Museum of Applied Arts, 24/1873. A summary by Károly Keleti, with 87 bills, 28 November, 1873. Among English artefacts, the amount paid to the Elkington Company is the biggest (1243 forints, C. O. D. not included); 62/1/1873, under the heading 'England' the following purchased artefacts are listed: artefacts from Minton, Daniell, Pellar-Wood and from Elkington: '1 emaille flask, 1 cassette, 1 tray, 2 shield (C.O.D.)'. A bill from the Elkington & Co: Archives of the Museum of Applied Arts. 62/6/1873. The Vienna purchases in the first inventory of the Museum of Applied Arts (1-818); electro­plates (649,650,652,654-656 and 806). 70/1874: a detailed report of the artefacts purchased at the Vienna world exhibi­tion; electroplates to the value of 1485 forints (pages 4 and 6). There is one artefact among the purchased ones that is defined as reproduction: "Pellas' electroplated imitation of Donatello's original". Inventories 1872-75, Vienna pur­chases No 649 (displayed at the exhibitions of 1874 and 1877: Kalauz 1874, p. 41) 16 On the history of the establishment of the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts see: Mór Gelléri: 50 év a magyar ipartörténetéből. 1842-1892. Budapest, 1892. pp. 370-73. (hereinafter: Gelléri 1892) On the members and activity of the 'Committee of the Hundred' see: Károly Keleti: A Buda­pesten felállítandó Ipar- és műmúzeum létesítő bizottságának szervezete és ügyköre. Archives of the Museum of Applied Arts Kit 1404/1-2. On the building see: Piroska Ács: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum palotájának építéstörténete. Buda­pest, 1996. p. 5. On the activity of Ferenc Pulszky, director of the Hungarian National Museum, also see: János György Szilágyi: Pulszky Ferenc és a múzeum helyzete a 19-20. századi európai kultúrában. Hilda Horváth: Pulszky Ferenc és az iparművészeti mozgalmak. In: Pulszky Ferenc emlé­kére. Budapest, 1997. pp. 70-75. " According to the concluding section of the petition of the Society for Industry, in the international competition Hungary had no choice but to enhance culture and "develop craftsmen-intellectuals" . Gelléri 1892, p. 372. It is not the quantity of artefacts that matters, the petition emphatically adds, but their quality: "the aim is to purchase artefacts endowed with intrinsic value and lasting worth." " Gelléri 1892. p. 376. The disappointment is under­standable if we compare the statement with the one in the original plan (1871) of the committee for the establishment of the museum: "in the course of the Vienna exhibition, we should purchase characteristic artefacts related to each industrial branch, as well as a piece of each remarkable machine and tool important in terms of Hungarian indus­try." Cited by: Gelléri 1892. p. 375 The proposition dis­cusses the idea in terms of industrial branches: 1. ceramics 8000 forints; 2. glass industry 4000 forints; 3. metallurgy and weapons 10000 forints (note: 'It is desirable to acquire high-quality photographs of major artefacts made by wrought-iron makers and smiths...'; 4. wood industry and related branches 10000 forints; 5. Weaving and spinning 5000 forints; 6. leather and skin industry, paper industry 4000 forints; 7. "Cca. 4000 forints ... for first-rate artefacts of reproduction industry (drawings, engravings, plaster­casts)"; 8. 5000 forints ... for practical tools, instruments, small machines and drawings or models of large machines that are applied in the above-mentioned industrial branch­es." Archives of the Museum of Applied Arts Kit.: 1420 A proposition for the ways of buying artefacts for the museum of industry at the Vienna world exhibition. " Jenő Radisics. Képes kalauz a gyűjteményekben. OMIM. Budapest, 1885. p. V. Kalauz a Magyar Iparmű­vészeti Múzeum gyűjteményeihez, Budapest, 1874. pp. 3-4. On Károly Pulszky's change of career, his studies on art his­tory in Leipzig and his doctoral dissertation see: János Eisler: Pulszky Károly művészettörténeti írásai. In: Pulszky Károly emlékének. Ed. László Mravik, Szépművészeti Mú­zeum, Budapest, 1988 pp. and László Mravik: Pulszky

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