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

Béla KELÉNYI: Two Trunks from London. Hungarian aspects of the 'discovery' of Nepalese art

Sultan Singh Backliwal (of the Indian Arts Palace, Delhi) corroborated this statement. Verbal communication to the author in Delhi in 1998 ,2 Baktay: 'Nepáli fémplasztika...', op. cit., p. 296. See also: Tóth: op. cit., p. 6. 11 Additional information of minor importance is that at an exhibition in 1907 of works in private collections in Budapest, it was, as the catalogue says, only Emil Delmár's collection that contained a Nepalese artefact, which, incidentally, was classified as Tibetan. See Csányi, Károly (ed.): A budapesti amateur gyűjtemények kiállításának lajstroma (List of Exhibits from Amateur Collections in Budapest). Budapest, 1907, p. 123, no. 64. Although not included in the exhibition list, a large Nepalese container (for holding ritual red powder [New.: Sinhamu}) from the Delmár collection passed into the possession of the Hopp Museum by a fortunate accident in 1992. It was exhibited in the Hopp Museum; see 'Új szerzemények, 1992-1993' (New Acquisitions, 1992-1993). In: Ars Decorativa (Budapest), 14. 1994, p. 227. It is hardly likely that at the small sculpture exhibition staged by the Guild of St. George (an association of amateur art enthusiasts and collectors) at the Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest in 1912 there were any Nepalese objects among the artefacts identified as Indian. Cf. A Gyűjtő, 1912, pp. 217-218. " A 1912 file from the Military Chancellery of Archduke Francis Ferdinand attests to the somewhat grotesque preliminaries to the donation. As the file attests, Jenő Radisics, the director of the Hungarian National Museum of Applied Arts, had notified the office that Schwaiger was about to send twenty-six old Indian artefacts to the Museum as donations. He offered Francis Ferdinand the right to select for himself any artefact or artefacts he might want. However, Schwaiger was not honoured by having any of his artefacts chosen in this way (Östereichisches Staatsarchiv Kriegsarchiv Militärkanzlei Franz Ferdinand Kt 58. Me 310/1912). The immediate upshot of the affair was that the consulate in Calcutta, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Lord Chamberlain's Office carried on a most complicated correspondence full of misunderstandings. The letters inform us that Schwaiger intended to donate a remarkable bronze statue of a peacock to the Hofmuseum. However, by that time Schwaiger had already donated the artefact in question to the British Museum; moreover, as a proud Hungarian, he intended to make donations to Budapest, not to Vienna (HHStA Ministerium des Äussern Administrative Registratur F 13 Kt. 32. Hofmuseum 2/71 and Kt. 34. Museum 1/23; also Hofarchive, Oberstkämmeramt Kt. 851. r. 55/A 728, 759, 2634, 3333/1912). I am indebted to István Fazekas, of the Ungarische Archivdelegation beim Östereichischen Staatsarchiv in Vienna, for tracking down these data. For the bronze peacock figure, see also Kelényi: op. cit., p. 60. 55 Archive of the Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, 784/1914 " Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 19. For the last, see Balogh, Jolán: Katalog der Ausländische Bildwerke des Museums der Bildenden Künste in Budapest. TV-XVIII. Jahrhundert. Budapest, 1975, nos. 150, 123 (I. Textband); Nos. 191, 178 (II. Bildband). " Specialist Inventory of the Collection at the National Hungarian Museum of Applied Arts, 11.142-13.513: inv. nos. 12200-12253. 18 See File No. 269/1915 in the Archive of the Museum of Applied Arts. Budapest, which is almost word for word the same as the representation given in the periodical Magyar Iparművészet. According to the file, the Museum of Applied Arts, which had closed owing to the war but which had then reopened, exhibited Schwaiger's donation along with other artefacts similarly in storage hitherto. Magyar Iparművészet, 1915. vol. XVIII, p. 260. " Slusser: op. cit., p. 87. 4

" He is mentioned both in the Sädhanamälä and in the Nispannayogâvalï. See Mallmann, Marie-Thérèse de: Introduction a T iconographie du Tântrisme Bouddhique. Paris, 1975, p. 254. For his cult in Nepal, see Gellner, David N.: Monk, Householder, and Tantric Priest. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, p. 255 and Rospatt, Alexander von: 'On the Conception of the Stüpa in Vajrayäna Buddhism: The Example of the Svayambhücaitya of Kathmandu'. In: Journal of the Nepal Research Centre, vol. XI, 1999, pp. 121-147. 41 Bhattacharya, Benoytosh: Nispannayogâvalï of Mahäpandita Abhayäkaragupta. Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1972, pp. 60-68; Lokesh Chandra: Tibetan Mandatas (Vajrävali and Tantra-samuccaya). New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1995, pp. 70-73. 42 See Bhattacharya: op. cit., p. 65 (Part 2). 41 See Appendix 1. 44 Sipra Nandi: 'Nepalese Manjusri Images in the Indian Museum'. In; Indian Museum Bulletin, January-July 1968, pp. A1-A9, Fig. II. Newars regard Manjughosha as being of the same essence as Vajrasattva; see Gellner: Monk, Householder..., op. cit., pp. 254—255; Bhattacharya: op. cit., p. 65 (Part 2). 45 See Mallmann: op. cit., pp. 254—255. 46 It is illuminating to compare our statue with the figures of Mahä-Aksobhya (belonging to the Dharmadhätu mandala) in the Museum der Kulturen, Basel and the Indian Museum, Calcutta respectively (see Sipra Nandi: op. cit., figs. I, III, IV.) 47 See Appendix 2. 48 For her cult in Nepal, see Gellner: Monk, Householder..., op. cit. p. 226. 4

" See Appendix 3. 50 According to all three inscriptions, the Buddha images were invariably ordered and consecrated on behalf of the deceased father and the figures of the female companion on behalf of the mother. For an analogous funeral ceremony inscription on a Manjughosa statue depicting MahäAksobhya, see also Sipra Nandi: op. cit., p. 47 and Essen, Gerd-Wolfgang - Thingo, Tashi Tsering: Die Götter des Himalaya. Vol. 2. München: Prestel-Verlag, 1989. p. 57. sl On account of its complexity, the inscription will be published later. s; As a report says, Zoltán Felvinczi Takács, the first