Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 31. (Budapest, 2017)
Veronika SZILÁGYI: Rebirth of the Gundel Centrepiece: Methodological Experiments in the Restoration of Enamelled Metalwork
work. Restoring this prestigious piece also necessitated the use of expensive materials. This costly restoration work would not have been possible without the financial support of the Friends of the Museum of Applied Arts. I would especially like to thank György Mátyásfalvi and Alexandra Szterényi for their support.2 A brief history of the Gundel Centrepiece Every restoration uncovers new information that contributes to our understanding of the object being restored. This was especially true in the case of the Gundel Centrepiece. Although this piece has already featured in several publications,3 the latest investigations brought to light certain interesting new information about how the object was produced, and about its history as well. Art history research has dated the manufacture of the centrepiece to 1896, and this is the date that appears in the earlier publications. An archive photograph of a glass cabinet used by the Bachruch company for the Millennium Exhibition in Budapest in 1896 may have played a part in this dating, for a round dish can be seen in the photograph that closely resembles the one used for the lower part of the Gundel Centrepiece. While selecting the subject of my diploma work, I began a more thorough investigation of this piece. For items of metalwork, the primary source of investigation involves examining the hallmarks on the works, and deciphering them where possible. Several marks are visible on the Gundel Centrepiece. (Stamped into the edge of the rim of the candelabrum are the maker’s marks of the Bachruch company: the triangular “ABA” and the Austro-Hungarian hallmark with the head of Diana, which was used after 1872.4 The latter also appears on the smooth plate beneath the candelabrum. The smaller hallmark used for smaller silver objects, showing the head of a greyhound,5 can be seen at the tops of the feet and on the gearwheel held by one of the putti.) In addition to the above, an inscription engraved on the bottom of the centrepiece reads: “FECIT ANNO DOMINI”, with a date in Roman numerals: “MCXXXXVII”. The date, 1147, is clearly a mistake. Ildikó Pandur first suggested that the intended date could be 1907, and this was taken as the starting point for research. Szabolcs Serfőző subsequently found an article in the columns of the Pesti Hírlap newspaper from that year, which shed some light on the circumstances surrounding the creation of this artwork. In the issue of the newspaper published on 17 February 1907, a report on the annual general meeting of the Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest (Pesti Magyar Kereskedelmi Bank) relates that the chairman of the bank, Leó Lánczy (1852-1921), received a gift to commemorate the 25 years he had spent in this position: “In the evening, the Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest presented their chairman, Leó Lánczy, with their own gift, a masterpiece by Bachruch, which by virtue of its proportions and its exceptionally tasteful execution is a truly majestic memorial. A female figure allegorically representing Commerce sits enthroned in a domed temple, encircled by other figures depicting trade and industry. The temple is constructed onto a plateau formed out of five shell- shaped indentations, which is surrounded by a frame decorated with filigree enamel. The diameter of the frame is 1 metre, the 108
