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

MAGDA LICHNER THE RECEPTION OF ELECTROPLATES IN HUNGARY I. ELECTROPLATES IN THE COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF APPLIED ARTS 1873-1884 Galvanization as an invention and the idea of 'useful art'. The English model In Victorian England, the middle class grew in terms of numbers, rights and self-respect. The mobilization was significant in the field of economy; also, it brought about a certain degree of democratization of high culture. The members of the middle class took possession of and reformulated for themselves the country's history, art and, last but not least, science. Due to the evolution of the characteristic features of English identity, the broadening of the school system and a duty-based differentiation of public collections (in particular, museums), there came into being an artistic canon and taste that was different from that of the elite yet incorporated several elements of the elite culture. Still, it is not regarded as mass culture.

1 A similar process took place in several European countries parallel with the evolution of European national states. The selection of works that symbolized a nation's history and imparting the related knowledge called for a systematized form. Among others, it was this fact that helped art history to develop into a science. Such a process cannot take place without the reproduction of texts, images and artefacts. Printing, press and photography proved to be a spectacular success. Yet the process of galvanization is less documented, although its history is closely related to the evolution of museums and the phenomenon of 'historizing'. Galvanizing is a result of several discoveries and inventions. Four decades after the introduction of the first galvanic cell, replicas were produced in an electro-chemical way.

2 In 1836 in the Philosophical Magazine, William de la Rue published the description of an accumulator that produced constant electric current. On the basis of experiments with this accumulator, three persons reproduced small-size medals and sculptures independently and almost simultaneously. H. H. von Jacobi introduced the phenomenon in 1837 at the Academy of Saint Petersburg. Thomas Spencer, a frame maker from Liverpool and C. J. Jordan, a craftsman from London published the results of their experiments in England, in 1839. On 25 March, 1840, George Richards Elkington (1800-1865) and his nephew, Henry Elkington (cca. 1810-1852), manufacture owners from Birmingham purchased the patent for electroplating and the galvanization procedure.

3 The company established an electroplate workshop in Regent Street in London, too. Reproducing natural forms, that is, leaves, fruits etc., they achieved enormous financial success, which aroused the royal family's interest. The other successful idea of theirs was based on an antiquary attitude. Benjamin Schlick, an architect of Danish origin who mainly lived in Paris, was the first to design forms on the basis of artefacts he saw in public and private collections. (Picture 1.) The Design Acts of 1839 and 1842 made it possible for companies to have license on the forms and decorations of the artefacts produced by their designers; that is, it was forbidden to imitate the forms and decorations for three years. Artefacts were given a registration mark and company mark. Elkington was careful enough to validate his licences in every country, which made it possible for the galva-