Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 26. (Budapest, 2008)

Zsolt SOMOGYI: An Adaptable Applied Artist. Pál Horti's American Furniture

a round table that could be pulled out to seat as many as twenty-four persons (no. 322 in the Shop of the Crafters at Cincinnati catalogue as an 'Extension Table'), five examples of a dining chair without arms ('Mission Dining Chair'; no. 320.), a dining chair with arms ('Mission Arm Dining Chair'; no. 321), pieces of furniture large and small for the serving of food ('Sideboard', no. 323; 'Serving Table and Chafing Dish Buffet'; no. 325), a 'Plate Rack' (no. 330), a 'Smoker Cabinet' (no. 329) for mounting on a wall; and a drinks cabinet ('Cellarette', no. 327). In addition, the catalogue proposed for the suite a buffet table ('Buffet', no. 324, a larger version of no. 324 above), a freestanding clock ('Crafters Clock', no. 331) and a 'Cellarette' (no. 328), another version of the one above (no. 327). How the artist was able to have these pieces brought back to Hungary we do not yet know. Standing out in the suite is the diningroom drinks cabinet, the cellarette of the catalogue's description. This is a simple blocklike piece of furniture on a square base. On the lower storage part stand four columns 3. Smoker Cabinet (no. 329.) from inheritance of Horti's widow. Private Collection, Budapest. Photo by György Kaczúr supporting the upper storage part. Each of these two parts has a door at the front, but the lower part opens on either side also, with the shelves to be found there serving as places for glasses. Function and form are in perfect harmony in this piece of furniture, a drawing of which can be found among Horti's published sketches.

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" According to the drawing's caption, the design for the drinks cabinet was made in 1905, in New York, for the dining-room suite, enabling us to assert that Horti made the entire suite at this time." Moreover, it is worth mentioning that it was only from the 1910s - after the First World War mainly - that this type of piece became widespread in European homes. The special feature of the sideboard is that it has, above the lower part with its drawers and doors, only a mirror with a curving upper edge. The plate rack was borrowed from Hungarian folk culture: when designing this piece of furniture with open shelves, Horti was recalling Hungarian traditions, too. Of the pieces comprising the library suite, a bookcase with three doors ('Crafters Book Case', no. 337); a 'Magazine Stand', a seat for three persons ('Mission Seat', no. 334), two different armchairs ('Mission Arm Chair', no. 331; 'Mission Morris Chair', no. 333), and a freestanding clock ('Viennese Clock', no. 339) have come down to us. The collection also contains a small, rectangular coffee table that does not feature in the catalogue; the octagonal table published there ('Library Table', no. 338) is, however, missing. Nor do we find a writing table ('Mission Desk', no. 338) among the surviving pieces. One of the armchairs - featuring in the catalogue as a 'Mission Morris Chair', after the founder of the Arts & Crafts movement - is likewise a special piece pointing to the future. The angle of its back is adjustable by means of a simple mechanism allowing four different settings, thus ensuring comfort and relax-