Business card tray

This plate was used for holding visit cards as well as small, valuable things, mostly and was found usually in a luxurious interior. The bowl is one of several water scenes and motifs, created by Mihály Kapás Nagy, who tried to unite practical and aesthetic functions. The naked, bathing female figure is trying to escape from the large snake that coils on the front wave of the plate. Her slanted body covered with the waves, her spread arms and long hair create the higher back of the bowl. On the hollow surface the illusion of a wave-trough is created by her dynamic motion. The dark, purple-green and golden patches of the iridescent glaze recall the playful colours of dark water. The bulging, yellow brown-spotted body of the snake is naturalistic. There is a remark at No. 6271 in the Zsolnay Façon book 9.: «Nagy Mihály mintája, geformt» [modeled by Mihály Nagy], The companion piece of the plate is introduced in drawing 6421 (a female figure escaping from a crayfish).