Design - ceramic decorative dishes

From 1899 Géza Nikelszky was one of the designers at the Zsolnay factory in Pécs, so, as a practicing ceramic artist, he knew the nature of the material and the opportunities given by different technologies perfectly well. He was also an excellent observer of nature, which can be seen on his dish sketches. The three dishes have three different shapes, each with a matching decoration. The first is slightly flat, with a strongly horizontal pattern: a wild duck stretching its neck among the reeds in a lakeshore background, accompanied with two jumping frogs. The decoration of the flower pot shows vertical, running geese. The splaying shape of the dish drives our attention from the bright white bodies of the birds to the thick, dark storm clouds above them. The vase „with a small green bug” (the expression of Géza Nikelszky on a note made by him on 25 December, 1955, see Bp. Museum of Applied Arts Archives), has two views. The plain body is enframed by relief, fleshy plant stems. Only every second one of these elements is joined to the surface, the other are connected with the top rim, creating a pierced impression. These are altogether eight-five with detailed drawings-small bugs with domed back, at the end of each stem, around the square, wavy top rim. All the three designs have a typical Art Nouveau colouring: bright, glittering metallic green, light violet, blue and gold.