Music shop of Ferenc and Mór Bárd
Description
Lajta’s first plan that did actually become constructed was the shop of music publishers Ferenc and Mór Bárd on the ground floor of the recently extended Dreher palace at 4, Kossuth Lajos Street.
His main source of inspiration for the interior was the illustration material in József Huszka’s recently published monographs on folk architecture (Sekler Houses, Magyar Ornamental Design). Huszka, arts teacher by qualification, proposed a theory that the motifs of folk artwork regarded specifically Magyar were of ancient Asian origin – a theory that was also a major source of inspiration for Ödön Lechner’s work at the turn of the century. The horseshoe shape of the music shop’s piano niche and the wavy balustrade of the first floor are reminiscent of the typical carved Sekler gates featuring in Huszka’s book, while the ornamental design above the central bridge seems to go back to one of the pictures in the book – that of a motif found on an embroidered shepherd’s coat made by a furrier from Cegléd. A lot more details, on the other hand, show the influence of the art nouveau and the floral ornaments of fin-de-siècle design – as well as the general impression of the interior (as far as can be judged now). The horseshoe shape was a popular element of Art Nouveau architecture in Belgium, among others. The strong polychromy of the interior (descriptions have it that it was dominated by red and green) and the resourceful while carefully detailed carved ornamental motifs of the furniture can be considered a forerunner of Lajta’s later, more significant works. One example is the originally nearly graphically detailed woodcarving, barely visible today under the light-coloured paint, which might remind one of the main gate of the Institute for the Blind in Mexikói Street.
Bibliography
Csáki Tamás: Bárd Ferenc és Mór zeneműboltja. In: Gerle János - Csáki Tamás (szerk.): Lajta Béla. Bp., 2013. 76-79. p.
