Savaria - A Vas Megyei Múzeumok Értesítője 32/2. (2009) (Szombathely, 2009)
DABÓCZI Dénes: AZ IPARMŰVÉSZETI GYŰJTEMÉNY TÖRTÉNETE
AZ IPARMŰVÉSZETI GYŰJTEMÉNY TÖRTÉNETE DABÓCZI Dénes Nádasdy Ferenc Múzeum H-9600 Sárvár, Várkerület 1., Hungary e-mail: muzeum.sarvar@mail.globonet.hu HISTORY OF THE APPLIED ART COLLECTION 3069 articles are to be found in the Applied Art Collection of the Savaria Museum and the Nádasdy Ferenc Museum in Sárvár. Collection of T 6 th-20 th century Hungarian, Western European and some far-eastern furniture, ceramics, glassware, textiles, goldsmith's work and wooden and ivory carvings had already begun at the time the museum was established, though in an extremely modest setting. At the 1912 Vas County History of Art Exhibition, which in terms of art and cultural history was the greatest event at the beginning of the century, several quality pieces were also exhibited by the museum. The museum organised an extensive collecting campaign after the First World War in 1922, though with little success due to lack of money. Perhaps it is for this reason that the applied art material was dealt with either with the fine art or the ethnography collections, and there was no separate curator. Due to the lack of experts, there was no real collection or systématisation in this field right up to the 1960s. In the meantime Gyula VÉGH, onetime director of the Museum of Applied Art, unable to cope with the 1950s period committed suicide in his Bozsok manor in 1952. His collection of seven hundred objects came into the possession of the Savaria Museum. Among the articles in the collection are Meissen, Viennese, Berlin, Sevres and Herend porcelain pieces, Hungarian, Austrian and French furniture, and 17 th-T 9 th century Hungarian, Turkish and Chinese embroidery. From a 17 th century Dutch glass bowl to a vase made by GALLÉ. A decade later in 1962, the museum bought Szombathely doctor Ferenc FARÁDI'S collection of 19 th century glass consisting of 120 items, among which is a fine series of Hungarian vases and glasses produced to commemorate the 1848-9 War of Independence. Methodical collection, systématisation and research began in 1963. The main course of action was represented by the collection and purchase of surviving artworks from the manor houses of Vas County. Articles acquired by the collection in this way include a fragment of a 16 th century Persian carpet, a 16 th and a 17 th century Flanders tapestry and an 18 th century Aubusson carpet. A large 17 th century cabinet in the possession of the OCSKAY family was also purchased for the museum, and this is now one of the main exhibits on display in Sárvár castle. We cannot go into further details here, but it should be noted that the Savaria Museum applied art collection occupies a truly exclusive position relative to the provincial museums of Hungary. This is particularly the case for the glass and furniture collection. Szombathely Gallery contemporary textile collection should definitely be mentioned, the formation of which began in 1970 within the domain of the Savaria Museum, and which rivals the Budapest Museum of Applied Art collection in terms of numbers (3500 items) and quality. The contemporary textile collection now belongs in totality to Szombathely Gallery. It should also be mentioned that the Savaria Museum Applied Art Collection, with the exception of the historical textiles, came gradually under the administration of the Sárvár Nádasdy Ferenc Museum at the beginning of the 1980s. The collection grew by 108 pieces of foundry glass in 1984, which were purchased by the museum from Mrs László BARTHA. Then at the beginning of the 1990s Mrs Klára MARIK TASNÁDI, onetime colleague of the Museum of Applied Art, presented her glass collection comprising more that 400 17 ,h-20 th century objects to Sárvár, i.e. to the Nádasdy Ferenc Museum.
