Dobrovits Aladár szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 5. (Budapest, 1962)

HOPP FERENC MÚZEUM - MUSÉE FERENC HOPP - Felvinczi Takáts, Zoltán: Some Notes to the Bronzes of the Chinese Collection. I.

ZOLTÁX KKLVI \CZI TAKÁTS SOME NOTES TO THE BRONZES O F THE CHINESE COLLECTION, I. Ferenc Hopp, the founder of the Museum bearing his name, was a man of extensive culture, principally interested in geopraphy and natural history. Through the latter he was turned to art, especially industrial art. During his five trips round the globe Japan became his most preferred country. Like many of his contemporaries, he became a fervent admirer of the country of the Rising Sun. China attracted him less, though many branches of its art, bronzes, semi-precious stones and silks, found in him their devoted friend and collector. In order to judge his merits as a collector, first of all we have to consider a rather dark bluish-greenish piece of jade of unknown age, but possibly Han.

1 (Fig. 1. a. b.). It seems to have been a ceremonial axe, forming an irregular triangle, having rather sharp straight edges on two sides. The third one is slightly bent. The polish of every part of the object is perfect, but the whole utensil is much worn, one side more, the other less brownish-reddish spotted. Slavery was at home in ancient China. This must be in my judgment the most likely explanation of the production of mostly polished jade objects of the first dynasties, which are really wonderful. As to the bronzes, he preferred pleasant and rather elaborate figurines, mostly of small sizes, and did not care of their age. Thus he would collect mainly pieces of the Ming period and downwards. It became my task, as then director of the museum, to develop the collection from the historical point of view, and I did it with special regard to Eastern Asiatic art motives transported to our country during the great migration of peoples. I was indeed immensely delighted in Peking when visiting those "small rotten shops". I could always detect some trinklets close akin to vestiges of the Hunnic peoples excavated from Hungarian soil. But sometimes finds of much greater antiquity were also available to my purse. In Shanghai I succeeded in finding a mirror of the oldest type (Fig. 2.), a plain disk without any decoration, with a tiny loop-handle. Its patina is variegated in red and green shadings. Friends and colleagues in Peking were much delighted of it. It is not at all improbable that we are facing an Anyang relie. Another round mirror of white bronze (Fig. 3), with some remains of green 1 Purchased by the Count J. Zichy in China.