Műtárgyvédelem, 2008 (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum)
Czifrák László: A Zsolnay kacsás díszszökőkút restaurálása
Iparművészeti Múzeum: Szecesszió, Szerkesztő: Vámos-Lovay Zsuzsanna. Felelős kiadó: dr. Lovag Zsuzsa, Iparművészeti Múzeum, Budapest. Zsolnay Teréz és M. Zsolnay Margit: Zsolnay - A gyár és a család története 1863-1948. Corvina Kiadó, Kner Nyomda, Gyoma, 1980. Kurtz Whelte: A festészet nyersanyagai és technikái. Ballasa kiadó, Magyar Képzőművészeti Főiskola, Budapest, 1994. Conservation of Zsolnay’s ornamental duck fountain László Czifrák The duck fountain was prepared after the designs of Géza Maróti Rintel architect and industrial artist in 1906 for the Hungarian pavilion of the World Fair organised in Milan the same year. It was produced in Miklós Zsolnay’s family factory. The conserved item was prepared for the National Fair in Pécs in 1907, and Miklós Zsolnay donated it to the National Casino of Pécs after the successful exhibition, where it decorated the yard. The Casino was nationalised in 1948 and turned into Garrison Club. The duck fountain was probably wilfully damaged in the yard of the Garrison Club at the beginning of the 60’s. The injured elements were transported to the store-room of the Collection of Applied Art in the Janus Pannonius Museum in Pécs at the beginning of the 80’s, and to date, the fountain is in the museum’s possession (inv. no: 95.6.1-37.). The round fountain can morphologically be divided into four identical quarters. A single duck, a pair and a group of three ducks can be seen on one quarter slice. These three different elements are repeated four times around the brim, so the fountain is altogether decorated with 24 pyrogranite wild ducks of eosine glaze. The elements of the fountain were broken and incomplete when they arrived in the workshop in 57 pieces. The surfaces of the disassembled elements were very dirty, first of all strongly adhered scale and a thick deposition of an atmospheric origin could be observed. Certain parts of the ducks were glued during a former conservation. Thick, strongly adhered mortar composed of cement and sand could be observed on the glued surfaces according to the X- ray dust diffraction analysis. The cleaning of the objects was carried out in consequent steps because of the large surface and the strongly adhered impurities. Dust and dirt of human origin deposited on the surfaces of the ducks, which were removed with 2% solution of fatty alcohol-sulphate in hot water and with 96 % alcohol. Cleaning paste was used on the more strongly adhered impurities, which was 20 % solution of sodium hexametaphosphate in hot water, mixed into bentonite. The next step was the removal of the former completions, jointing and conserving gluing. To replace the missing elements of the ducks, plaster negatives were made of the morphologically identical and intact fountain elements, and they were used for most of the completions. Ardurit S 16 W type hydraulic resin-bonded binder 202
