On 5 March 2021, the exhibition “A Trunk with a History or the History of a Trunk. Alexander III’s Travelling Trunk” from the collection of the State Hermitage was formally opened in the Winter Palace. At the opening ceremony, Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage, observed: “This is an unusual exhibition, even by Hermitage standards, one that will suit all generations. It is a very attractive, absorbing and entertaining exhibition. Its central character – a travelling trunk, presented by its Serbian inventor to the heir to the Russian throne, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, the future Emperor Alexander III – evokes delight in a whole range of different ways. A toolkit of a trunk, a transforming trunk, a sort of doll’s house, anyone who is fond of playing with model soldiers – for everyone it will be a pleasure to view these objects. Besides that, it is a remarkable artefact of its day. All the items presented there characterize the time, Europe, what was being made and what was being used in everyday life in Saint Petersburg and all over. It is a remarkable record of the history of applied art and a remarkable human document. As things have turned out, it is practically the sole material memorial to the activities of Ogneslav Kostovich, a Serbian visionary designer. After moving to Russia, he became a renowned inventor: he was among those behind the development of the submarine, the internal combustion engine and the airship. He invented plywood, an astonishingly strong glue and other ‘trifles’, his passion for which found expression in the original solutions in the contents of this enormous self-care kit. It is at the same time a memorial to Kostovich, an astonishing man, participant in the Russo-Turkish Wars, an aid to Russia in those conflicts. Special thanks to the Department of Western European Applied Art, its head Olga Grigoryevna Kostiuk, and Liudmila Ivanovna Shatilova, the exhibition curator, who has found all the documents and materials, and given this inventor a second lease of life.”
Trunks can store not only things, but stories as well. Such items were an important part of the furnishings of a home and also the main form of baggage and packaging for belongings and foodstuffs during journeys. People carried them on their shoulders, tied them to horses’ saddles and fastened them to the roofs or footboards of carriages. Accompanying humanity down through the centuries, the chest or trunk, created primarily for the storage of things, became a multipurpose piece of furniture that might serve as a bench to sit on or a bed to lie on. By the end of the 19th century, alongside the traditional designs, transforming chests also appeared that could take the place of several objects at once. An example of this is provided by the travelling trunk from the State Hermitage’s collection of harness and decoration for carriages that features in the exhibition. In the present instance, not only the design is unique, but also the comprehensiveness of the original selection of items that would meet all, or nearly all, a traveller’s requirements.
The trunk’s chief virtues are its compactness, the versatility of its design and its multi-functionality. The piece is equipped with a cunning transformation system, a series of containers and devices for fastening objects during transportation. Although not all the contents of the trunk have come down to us today, at the moment it holds 233 different items, the range of which is amazing for its grasp of the needs of a traveller on a long journey. They are not remarkable for the refined beauty and luxury of their finish, being instead extremely simple and practical. There is a folding table and chairs, a writing set, a first-aid kit, a camp stove, tableware, cutlery and kitchen utensils, linen, toiletries and cosmetic articles. Not forgotten either are removable shelves, a variety of pieces of oilcloth, stands and even a handbook of homeopathy to go with the first-aid kit. Besides all these many items, the chest also housed several secrets, including the names of the craftspeople who created it and the mystery of its origins. Thanks to restoration and the archival documents that have been found, it proved possible to discover the answers to the majority of those riddles and to tell the story of this unique exhibit.
In the course of the scientific restoration in 2016–18, beneath the lining of the trunk two paper labels were found belonging to János (or Johann) Felber’s Austro-Hungarian firm producing travel goods and bags along with the signatures of the craftsmen: Adolf Rüžičhov and the carpenter’s assistant Károly Papek. The man who came up with the idea and the actual design for the trunk was Captain Ogneslav Kostovich, as is borne out by an inscription in French (with the Hungarian spelling of his surname) “INVENTION du Capitaine Kosztovits” placed on the flap.
Ogneslav (Ogny) Stepanovich Kostovich (1848/51–1916) was an inventor and designer of Serbian descent, an Austro-Hungarian subject who lived much of his life in Russia. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, Captain Kostovich used his own money to purchase two steamboats for the Russian army and himself accompanied them down the Danube as far as the river port of Galați. The results of this expedition were unfortunate: the Turks sank both vessels, while Kostovich himself lost his left eye, “the rights of an Austro-Hungarian subject … and his captain’s commission”. After medical treatment, the captain moved to Saint Petersburg.
Ogneslav Kostovich was a tireless inventor (mainly in the fields of engineering and aeronautics), but the bulk of his ideas never were realized in practice. The few projects of his that were brought to full completion included the travelling trunk in the Hermitage collection.
Kostovich decided to present the construction, which he himself called a “military campaign suitcase”, to the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich. As the inventor wrote: “as the work on the construction of the suitcase was coming to a successful conclusion, another thought stimulated me, namely after recovering from the illness to quickly make my way to the chief Russian residence and to present my work to Him who delivered my brethren from the Turkish yoke…”
Kostovich was an innovator and fitted the trunk out with the latest inventions of the day. Among the fashionable novelties, mention can be made, for example, of galvanized and enamelled tableware and of the gutta-percha used to form inflatable cushions for the chairs. Some of the elements (the table, chairs and shelves) were most probably made specially for the trunk in Felber’s workshop. Others may have been bought from shops and stalls in Budapest. Judging by their appearance and markings, these items were produced by various manufactories from the middle of the 19th century onwards. Some of the firms whose marks and labels can be found on the objects are still in business today (the Dr. Willmar Schwabe homeopathic pharmaceutical company, for example).
The creation of the talented inventor Ogneslav Kostovich that has come down to us today was brought to life by the skilled hands of Hungarian craftsmen and made a long journey across Eastern Europe. It became not merely a gift, but a mark of “patriotic feeling and the deepest devotion” to the heir to the Russian throne. The trunk accompanied Alexander III, as heir and then emperor, in two residences – the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo and the Anichkov Palace in Saint Petersburg. It spent time in the Court Stables Museum and now, finally, it is appearing in the halls of the Hermitage so as to share its amazing history.
The exhibition curator is Liudmila Ivanovna Shatilova, a researcher in the State Hermitage’s Department of Western European Applied Art.
A scholarly illustrated catalogue in Russian has been prepared for the exhibition (State Hermitage Publishing House, 2021). It has a foreword by Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage, and text by Liudmila Shatilova.
The exhibition “A Trunk with a History or the History of a Trunk. Alexander III’s Travelling Trunk” can be visited during the museum’s working hours by holders of tickets for fixed route №2 around the Main Museum Complex (entry by the Church Staircase).