Vilmos Perlrott-Csaba

Vilmos Perlrott-Csaba

Portrait of Sándor Ziffer

circa 1908

     A refreshingly candid conveyance of a man. Name, age or creed aside, the subject stares relaxedly and unconcernedly into our anonymous eyes as well as into those of his portraitist, rather like one sitting on a bench while only mildly aware of the seamless haze of strolling passerby’s and of the intermittent rustling of leaves. Though seated indoors, in full dress, on a lavish velvet-lined (perhaps) and plush canapé, the man’s posture suggests a space in time that is transient, unfixed. His off-centred position within the picture’s frame, as well as the tri-panelled rose-flecked backdrop curiously ‘crowning’ his topped head, subtly impose on the scene a questionable sense of surrealism. Nothing is seen in its entirety, save the figure’s black hat, which may be interpreted (among many ways) as an invitation into a baseless, boundless space of dreamy creation and possibility: the crimson-covered bed, a glorious thing in which the subconscious takes flight, floats in the upper left-hand corner and is only semi-exposed to the audience, somewhat like a ‘wink’; the patterned wall-paper shimmers gaily with the dancing faces of many blooming, bulbous buds, though without the proof or surety of being attached to either a floor or a ceiling; and the man himself rests on an expanse of floral reds and murky greens that also reveals no evidence of being footed on a floor, or indeed of having any ends. Though these may be details of no importance, drawing attention to their presence nevertheless sheds light on whether they have a capacity to contain more than one meaning. Their roles may truly be one-dimensional and stationary, as seemingly intended, or they may in fact be separate keys into the thoughts of Sándor Ziffer - of a man, of a human being.

Leafing Through la Maison Zimmermann

la Maison Zimmermann (Paris)

an Illustrated Promotional Leaflet (partial)

circa 1914

     Folded and overlaid rather like an accordion (albeit a tuneless one), the pages of this leaflet feature six charming illustrations by Gets (?), each charismatic and uniquely militant on the bare stretch of page it stands. The selected pair (as seen to the left) adorn the leaflet’s cover and back faces, with the remaining illustrations within combined to create a one-registered conversational storyboard - or, in fact, an open letter - between a certain ‘Madame de Villepré’ and her nameless granddaughter. Their ‘conversation’ so-to-speak (cleverly acting as the invitation to the house’s opening event), is not a particularly long one, though it coincidentally serves as the footstool on which the fashionable hoop-hemmed, whimsically frilly works by la Maison Zimmermann are artistically showcased. By example, a polka-dot-clad lady unwisely (though apparently) harpooning a wonky parasol illustrates the caption (translated), The look of, ‘Come hither, young man’, while simultaneously sporting a ghastly great pair of ankle-grazing knicker bottoms. Even by last century’s standards of seduction, surely an à la mode garment such as this acted to repulse rather than lure in the opposite sex (especially in light of the lady’s curious behavioural ‘love call’), but nevertheless, the illustration’s candour (and that of its brethren) remains obstinate: it embodies the house’s lucid style of eloquence, its cheeky play with humour and its appreciation and support of the work of an artist who knew how best to balance petit, quaint drawings with the often mis-used vernacular of negative space. This leaflet speaks warmly and poetically on behalf of la Maison Zimmermann, though certainly not by way of words.

Private (Miniature) Savings

by (unknown)

a ‘Coal Bucket’ Savings Tin

circa 1953 (?)

     For whom could this have been made? Judging by the illustrations painted (or printed) along its main panels, one may assume that, in response, the tin was created for someone with an appreciation of small, delicate and ever-growing, self-sustaining things. On the tin’s shouldering panels flower two mirrored groups of bright-faced sunflowers on whose great thick leaves crawl a ladybird or two. Though crudely (or rather clumsily) painted, the flora and fauna form an image of solidity within a quiet, un-obtrusive realm of calm repetition and comfort; Nature is present always, even in the harshest of places such as coal mines and synthetic fields of manufacture, and it is for this reason that, perhaps, the tin’s maker chose to couple two such paradoxical themes in order to extract and pursue a sense of renaissance from the ashes of human exploits. It is simultaneously a light- and heavy-hearted act of symbolic pairing, and twisted within these lines is an actual twist - that of the bulrush-clinging dwarf who, apparently, is attempting to distract the peaceable frog down below with his mischievous five-fingered caterwauling. From hope and imagination stems possibility; from but a drop of water and a flow of relentless care stems growth; and from a steady, tireless dedication in the collection of one’s savings there stems, undoubtedly, a ‘growth factor’ (so-to-speak) of independent personal stability, no matter from how small an amount it may first begin to blossom. The dwarf knows this, and woe betide his stubborn stout listener should he ever stop trying to convince the frog of this fact.

the Wiener Werkstätte: Remigius Geyling

by (designer) Remigius Geyling

a Ceremonial Ball Donation

circa 1911

     Designed in honour of ‘the city of Vienna’ and ‘Wilhelm Melzer’ (as inscribed), this squat four-legged oval jewel shares a great aesthetic resemblance with the makings of the Wiener Werkstätte. The visual perception of the box’s weight relies much on the relationship of its proportions: emphasis is placed on the delicacy of its minuscule feet by way of being shadowed under the box’s low-slung, wide belly, while the belly itself boasts of a supposed ‘inner’ strength and definitive solidity of form when, in fact, its bowels are spacious. The language of this type of artistic relationship is idiosyncratic of this period in time, when durability and stamina were defined by the quality of contouring and decorative concentration found on an object of art. Pieces made by those involved in the Wiener Werkstätte are heavily imbued with this value, wherein details such as colour, texture and form are combined to embrace the Gesamtkunstwerk, or the ‘total work of art’, so as to advocate the marriage of artist and creation into a single entity. A direct fruition of the Viennese workshop(s’) core ideals, this box remains a sturdy individual of turn-of-the-century craft, with its four rice-grain limbs acting to support a weight both immeasurable and eternal on the face of history.