Design - cover ornaments on a hunter´s bag

Sándor Nagy and Laura Kriesch got married in 1902 and moved to Veszprém. From then on they often used their calligraphic, twined initials, like the one on this hunter's bag cover design. The topic of the decoration is characteristic of their works: the deer, fox, rabbit and other forest animal figures often appeared on Sándor Nagy's designs. In this case, the symmetrical field, enframed with tendrils and cornflowers, depicts two rabbits and two partridges. In the middle, there is a rabbit standing on its back legs. Its pair is crounching on the left. The stiffness of symmetricality is eased by the figures of the two birds on the right, picking at plants. In spite of the difference in technique, the main principle of the arrangement is similar to the motifs of a cushion, designed by Nagy and embroidered by Paula Körössy. The cushion was exhibited with the title “The grapes are sour” at the 1902 Christmas exhibition of the Society for Applied Arts (see Cat. No. 9.33). The versatile artist gained his first success after years spent in Rome and Paris with his high quality, artistic pieces designed for everyday use. His leather- work were internationally appreciated for its combination of decoration and function, and their artistic quality Sándor Nagy and Jenó Fischhof won gold medals in their category at the Torino exhibition. In his contemporary report Elemer Czako stressed the significance of the excellently applied leather cutting and painting. In the case of the design described above, the strong, powerful lines and the applied blunt colours of light green and brown match the leather material well.