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Among the Nabi artists, the Hungarian József Rippl-Rónai (1861-1927), was the most prolific producer of ceramics. Today the largest holdings of his works in this medium are in Budapest's Decorative Museum of Applied Arts. In 1896 Rippl-Rónai was commissioned to decorate the dining room in the town house of Comte Tivadar Andrássy, his patron in Budapest. He designed the entire room, including tapestries, furniture, and a porcelain dinner service. It was one of the earliest Art Nouveau rooms in Hungary. On 15 January 1898, Rippl-Rónai wrote the following letter to Mr Radisics, the director of the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest: 'For the month of May, I will already have some furniture ready, and by the summer, my tableware will count nearly three hundred pieces' (S.I. Bagot, 'Les principes de József Rippl-Rónai', Annuaire du musée des Arts décoratifs et du musée d'Art D'Extrême-Orient, Paris, 1962, p. 94). The Andrássy dining room was destroyed during the Second World War, and no inventory is known to exist. Therefore it is difficult to determine which surviving plates by the artist were designed for that room. The present plates were executed in collaboration with the manufacturer Zsolnay in Pécs (South Hungary). Featuring floral motifs, the plates are inspired by Japanese prints and textiles, and executed with a vivid glazing, for which Zsolnay was famous. Subsequently Zsolnay became a leader in the execution of such Art Nouveau designs. Rippl-Rónai created for the manufactory several designs for plates in the 1890s; a select few of these were produced at the beginning of the twentieth century. PROPERTY FROM A SWISS PRIVATE COLLECTION

József Rippl-Rónai (1861-1927)

Pink orchids

Details

József Rippl-Rónai (1861-1927)
Pink orchids
printed with the artist's monogram, impressed with the Zsolnay (Pécs) mark and numbered '5300' (on the base)
enamelled porcelain plate
Diameter: 9 5/8 in. (24.7 cm.)
Conceived in 1897-1898 and manufactured by Zsolnay circa 1913

Provenance

Acquired by the present owner in the 1980s.

Literature

Exh. cat. La Céramique Fauve - André Metthey et les peintres, Musée Matisse, Nice, 1996 (illustrated p. 19).
Exh. cat. József Rippl-Rónai 1861-1927, le Nabi hongrois, Paris & Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 1999, no. 229 (another example illustrated p. 240).

Exhibited

Zurich, Kunsthaus, Die Nabis: Propheten der Moderne 1888-1900, May - August 1993, no. 206a (illustrated in hte catalogue p. 384); this exhibition later travelled to Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Les Nabis 1888-1900, September 1993 - January 1994.
Marseilles, Musée de la Faïence, Château Pastré, De la couleur et du feu: céramiques d'artistes de 1885 à nos jours, June - September 2000, no. 20 (illustrated pp. 28 & 143).

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

Photograph of József Rippl-Rónai by Olga Máté, 1910. Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, Budapest.

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