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Armchair

ca. 1898 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This chair is part of a set of furniture designed by Odön Faragó for the garden house at the royal castle, Buda (now Budapest), for Queen Elizabeth of Hungary (1837–1898). The interior of the garden house was decorated with traditional Hungarian motifs including stylised floral and leaf decoration, and the set of furniture with similar decoration was made by Lörincz Lengyel, a cabinetmaker in Szeged, Hungary. It was shown at the Paris International Exhibition of 1900 and bought by Sir George Donaldson, a London dealer who was commissioned by the South Kensington Museum (the V&A’s predecessor) to buy modern works of art for the collection.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Carved ash, stained green; back and seat covered with red felt, decorated with appliqué ornament of coloured leather, sewn on with silk cord outline
Brief description
of carved ash, with leather upholstery. Hungarian (Szeged), ca. 1898, by Odon Farago. Donaldson Collection
Physical description
Carved ash, stained green; the back and seat are covered with red felt decorated with applique ornament of coloured leather sewn on with silk cord outline.
The decoration on the back consists of a white oval compartment in the centre enriched with floral ornament and bordered by leafy stems from which spring floral sprays; round the whole is a border of half-rosettes. The framework of the back is composed of: 1) a curved rail above carved with two floral devices, 2) two uprights continuous with the back legs, and 3) two curved rails below. The seat is enriched with a border of leafy stems alternating with four rosettes. The arms are supported in front on uprights continuous with the front legs, and carved with leaves and rosettes; each arm is further supported by three small uprights carved with leaf ornament and resting on a rail, which in turn rests on one similar upright.
Dimensions
  • Height: 83cm
  • Width: 69.5cm
  • Depth: 62.5cm
Style
Gallery label
  • ARMCHAIR 143-1901 'American and European Art and Design 1800-1900' This model was originally designed before 1898 for the summer house at the Royal Castle, Buda, erected for Queen Elizabeth of Hungary (1837-1898). The upholstery, in particular, recalls Hungarian peasant ornament. This chair was shown at the Paris 1900 Exhibition. Given by Sir George Donaldson(1987-2006)
  • Carved ash, stained green, the upholster of red felt with leather applique ornament. Designed by Edmond Farago Hungarian; about 1900 Given by George Donaldson, Esq. Shown at The Paris 1900 Exhibition.
Credit line
Given by Sir George Donaldson
Object history
Designed for the 'Garden Room' of the Summer House of the Royal Palace at Buda, for Queen Elizabeth of Hungary. The red felt covering was appliquéd with leather and silk embroidery designs taken directly form Kodmön jackets worn probably in Bekes County (Lou Taylor, 'Peasant Embroidery: rural to urban and east to west relationships 1860-1914' in the Journal of the Decorative Arts Society, vol. 14 (1990). pp. 43-51, the chair illustrated in fig. 5 on p. 46).
Subjects depicted
Summary
This chair is part of a set of furniture designed by Odön Faragó for the garden house at the royal castle, Buda (now Budapest), for Queen Elizabeth of Hungary (1837–1898). The interior of the garden house was decorated with traditional Hungarian motifs including stylised floral and leaf decoration, and the set of furniture with similar decoration was made by Lörincz Lengyel, a cabinetmaker in Szeged, Hungary. It was shown at the Paris International Exhibition of 1900 and bought by Sir George Donaldson, a London dealer who was commissioned by the South Kensington Museum (the V&A’s predecessor) to buy modern works of art for the collection.
Associated object
144-1901 (Set)
Bibliographic references
  • Greenhalgh, Paul (Ed.), Art Nouveau: 1890-1914 . London: V&A Publications, 2000
  • Donaldson, George, The Victoria and Albert Museum. Gift of "New Art" Furniture for Circulation. The Magazine of Art, 1901, pp. 466-471 (illus.)
  • Taylor, Lou, 'Peasant Embroidery: rural to urban and east to west relationships 1860-1914'. Journal of the Decorative Arts Society, vol. 14 (1990), pp. 43-51, the chair illustrated as fig. 5, p. 46. The room for which it was designed is illustrated as fig.6
Collection
Accession number
143-1901

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Record createdJune 1, 2001
Record URL
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