Floor vase from the original furnishings of the György Ráth Villa

Little is known about the maker of this graceful and characteristically Art Nouveau vase, Jakab Rapoport. Even his date of birth and death are uncertain. His name was mentioned in various forms, and he first appeared at the 1898 Christmas exhibition with enamel objects of various techniques (cloisonné, painted and so-called cloud enamel). He also made designs for goldsmith works, but was most successful with his enamel pieces. At the 1900 World’s Fair he showed objects made according to designs by Sándor Nagy (1869–1950), Gyula Háry (1864–1946) and Ödön Faragó (1869–1935), among them enamel portraits painted in Limoges style. His international fame was due to his unique technique, the so-called cloud enamel, which resulted in a marbly surface suitable for covering even large surfaces. At the 1900 exhibition of the Viennese Secession, he was mentioned among the exhibitors of the Parisian “La Maison Moderne” – one of the centers of the new style of applied arts. The mounting of this floor vase was designed by Georges de Feure (1868–1943). This Parisian artist and designer (his real name was Georges Joseph van Sluijters) was one of the outstanding and influential creators of the period and belonged to the gallery of Siegfried Bing (1838–1905), which was opened in 1895 as “La Maison de l’Art Nouveau” (the name became synonymous with the style of the Secession). The floor vase, along with several hundred other objects by Rapoport, received a gold medal at the 1902 Turin International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts. The vase was part of the decoration of the Budapest villa of György Ráth (1828–1905), first director of the Museum of Applied Arts in Városligeti fasor, where it stood in the entrance hall.