Miscellaneous Collection I

One of the very first pieces in the collection of the Hungarian National Museum, this bronze sculpture depicts the allegory of Death with anatomical precision and brutal naturalism. The decaying skeleton holds an hourglass in one hand and swings a scythe in the other. The Mors figure came from the estate of the renowned art collector István Marczibányi of Puhó as a donation from his heirs to the museum after 1810. According to the first museum catalogue, the Cimeliotheca Musei Nationalis Hungarici, published in 1825, it was once kept in the Zrínyi family's collection in Csáktornya. Subsequent research has not been able to confirm this. From the 16th century onwards, artistic cabinet sculptures of the personified figure of Death were placed in the collections of rulers and aristocrats in the spirit of the "memento mori" idea. As special collector's items they encouraged reflection on the inexorability of passing . (Ausburg (?), turn of 16th–17th centuries)

The earliest portrait bust of Lajos Kossuth was made in Hungary in 1848. His facial features were modeled by András Schossel (1824–1874), a talented young sculptor who studied in Pest and at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. He was inspired by Miklós Barabás’ lithograph, in which he depicted Kossuth among the members of the first autonomous, accountable Hungarian ministry. Similar to the shoulder portrait, the braided buttons of the dolman are visible from under the ends of the fringed scarf tied under the high collar. He wears his hair parted to the side. His face is framed by a full beard under the lush, curved, pointed moustache. The sculpture, raised on a pedestal, shows a proud, determined individuality. Schossel was a modeler for the Munkács ironworks, and his work led to the popular cast-iron busts. This work was also dear to Kossuth himself, and he had a cast of Schossel's work on his  while in exile in Turin. (András Schossel, Munkács, after 1848)

The silver-plated copper bust by Károly Alexy (1816–1880) depicts Count Lajos Batthyány (1807–1849), the martyred prime minister of the first autonomous and accountable Hungarian government. The work is a version of a larger plaster bust made in 1849, which has not survived. The artist was imprisoned for his participation in the War of Independence. After his release, he fled abroad. The smaller bust was created in London in 1855, which was surrounded by almost cultic respect in the Hungarian emigration circle. It was inspired by the portrait of Miklós Barabás, which became well-known on lithographed sheets from 1848. The artist presented his sculpture at the World Exhibitions in London in 1862 and then in Paris in 1867. Several casts are known. (Signed on the back: C. Alexy S.C. London 1855, on the base the foundry's mark: Ernest Royer Fondeur á Paris, engraved inscription BATTHYÁNI on the front)

The once colored soapstone statue appears to depict a peacefully sleeping child. With his eyes closed, he rests his head in his palm, but he leans on a skull with his elbow. The dark, gaping eye sockets of the bone skull are staring at the viewer suggesting the inexorability of death. The exact function and origin of the sculpture are unknown. The slightly exaggeratedly high forehead of the curly head and elongated face indicate that the statue was once located above eye level. It is not a full sculpture its the back is roughly shaped. There is a deep hole in the middle of the base where the fixing metal rod may have fit. We can find sculptural iconographic parallels in the 16th–17th century tombstones – mainly erected for children – which reflect the ancient idea of the relationship between death and falling asleep, and sleep. The Infant Jesus is also often depicted in a similar position, foreshadowing the Savior's coming death on the cross. But the cross is also present in those composition. (Unknown master, early 17th century?)

The L. C. Smith E. Bross brand typewriter with cover comes from the office of Károly Eötvös (1842–1916), politician, lawyer, writer, and member of parliament. Eötvös was one of the most famous and internationally renowned lawyers of his time. He was the defense attorney for the defendants in the Tiszaeszlár blood libel trial of 1883, and he recorded the history of the trial in a book. An important part of his literary work is his biographies of prominent personalities of the era, such as Ferenc Deák, and his work entitled “Journey around Lake Balaton”, which is of historical significance.

On the lid of the coffin-shaped matchbox, crafted with the elaborate art of miniature sculpture, a moustachiod young man dressed in Hungarian attire leans on his elbows. It almost depicts symbolically the mood and mourning of the retaliatory period after the War of Independence (1848–1849). Lighting a pipe or cigar could thus also recall the memory of the martyrs of the homeland. (András Schossel, Munkács, 1854)

Attractive, durable, cheap – these were the attractive features emphasized by the Szandrik Hungarian silver and metalware factory in its 1906/07 product catalogue. The factory began operating in 1895 in Alsóhámor, Bars County, near the ore deposits, within the framework of the Geramb Mining Association of Selmecbánya, under the management of the imperial and royal councilor Róbert Berks. The firm was transformed into a joint-stock company in 1906. Its central management and warehouses were in Budapest, but it also had a warehouse in Vienna’s Seilergasse. In addition to silverware, it offered a wide range of items made of electroplated nickel-silver (alpaca) and cheaper, high-quality nickel-copper alloys (alpaca, China silver, pakfong). The Szandrik factory won a certificate of honor at the 1896 Millennium Exhibition, and participated with several works at the 1900 Paris World Exhibition, where it received a silver medal. The tea and cream cans are surprisingly rich in their form. The winding lines of the handles have an Art Nouveau flavour, the play of light on the surface of the vessels, which are free from decorative ornamentation, the playful transitions from square to circular shapes, their geometric order all point towards a new kind of modernity. (Szandrik factory, around 1906)

Pál Horti (1865–1907) is a prominent figure in Hungarian Art Nouveau. He designed jewelry, furniture, carpets, faience, and also worked with leather and metalwork. Horti is a new type of modern designer-applied artist at the turn of the 20th century not only interested in the design of objects, but also in their execution, a cheaper, larger-scale, reproducible way ofmanufacturing. In collaboration with the Beschorner foundry, he experimented with a new patination process. The expensive bronze material of the castings was replaced with cheaper zinc and coated with an artistic, noble bronze patina. During the preparation for the Paris World Exhibition (1900), the 1899 issue of Magyar Iparművészet published Pál Horti's bronzed vessels, which he designed and patterned himself and were executed in the workshop of the royal art foundries of A. M. Beschorner and his son. Horti's metal objects were not only reproduced in the foundry, but also produced by Emil Fischer's ceramic factory, based on the same design, but in different sizes and with different decorations. (Pál Horti, Beschorner and Son Metal Foundry, 1899)