Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 25. (Budapest, 2007)

Zsolt SOMOGYI: Pál Horti's Late Works in the United States of America

factory was available across almost the entire territory of the United States (it was unavailable only in Arkansas, Connecticut and Idaho), and it even reached Canada and Mexico.

From the point of view of form, Shop of the Crafters furniture followed the American Arts & Crafts current. It was, however, alloyed with European taste: its decorative motifs and the generous use of inlay reflect the influence of the Austrian’ Secession. However, when we look at the decorative motifs used by Horti and get to known their origin, we can dispense with the adjective Austrian’. The pieces known from the sketchbook and designed for Oscar Onken are similar to those that can be described as general in the USA at the turn of the 20lh century. It is in their inlay embellishments that their particularity lies. Horti’s characteristic inlay motifs were a four-petalled flower, an eight-petalled flower and a stylised tulip. These he placed in a square and supplemented with geometric line embellishments. The central motif of the tulip - one that can derived from the allegedly distinctive stock of motifs of Hungarian folk art around the turn of the

7. Mission Seat to the Crafters Library Set. illustration published in the articles’ catalogue of the Shop of the Crafters, Cincinnati, 1906. (Facsimile edition: New York, 1983) Private collection

20th century - is an inverted heart, which is flanked on each side by an opening petal that curves outwards. On one version of the flower motifs, four buds are connected to a central square; on the other version, four petals placed diagonally and broadening towards their tops are placed around a central point along with four smaller rhombusshaped petals. These distinctive motifs on the sketches help us to identify those pieces of furniture designed by Horti. They appear on (for example) armchairs, chairs, sofas, table legs, cigar cabinets, and book cabinets, as well as on other Shop of the Crafters products that even today are not often linked to the designer. Although it remained in business until 1931, Oscar Onken’s factory produced furniture in the Arts & Crafts style only until 1920.

That the furniture designed by the Horti was popular is proved by a suite - a writing- table and a chair - that is currently owned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.30 On the basis of designs made around 1905 and attributed to the artist, it was produced around 1910, in other words three years after Horti’s death. Here, too, the writing-table is constructed out of block-like forms; however, its relatively long legs make it slightly disproportionate. Its distinctiveness among other pieces of American furniture is to be found in its ornamentation. Into the dark mahogany veneer of the pulldown writing-flap (which slants towards the back of the piece when closed) and of the front of the structure framing it, Horti placed inlay consisting of boxwood, pear- wood, mansonia, sycamore, and lacewood that depicted stylised peacock’s feathers. The very same motif also embellishes the beautiful chair-back with its slightly curving lines.

Of the Shop of the Crafters products, 167 furnishing artefacts are shown in the above114