“Stop to admire this vase's captivating iridescent surface, a result of a pioneering Hungarian glazing technique. Its flowing lines and stylized floral decoration embody the Art Nouveau movement's embrace of nature and decorative beauty.”
This elegant vase shimmers with a remarkable iridescent surface, a result of the eosin glazing process perfected by Hungary's Zsolnay ceramics manufactory in 1893. The technique creates a lustrous, almost metallic sheen that catches the light, making the earthenware appear to shift in color. Delicate, stylized golden trees reach upwards, their branches adorned with pendant clusters of pink and ruby-red flowers, creating a sense of natural beauty rendered in a highly decorative style. This ornamentation is attributed to József Rippl-Rónai, an artist who spent 15 years in Paris as part of the Nabis, a collective of young painters interested in decorative art and symbolism. The vase, made in 1898, reflects the Art Nouveau movement's embrace of organic forms and flowing lines, transforming a functional object into a captivating work of art.
- Artist
- József Molnár
- Date
- 1898
- Medium
- Lead-glazed earthenware with iridescent glazes
- Location
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Dimensions
- H.: 27.9 cm (11 in.)
- Collection
- Applied Arts of Europe
- Culture
- Hungary
- Credit line
- Purchased with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Henry M. Buchbinder and Quinn E. Delaney
What to Notice
Four details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

The rainbow-like shimmer on the surface, a hallmark of eosin glaze.
Stylized golden trees with slender trunks and sweeping branches.
Clusters of small pink and ruby flowers hanging like jewels.
The elegant, elongated neck and gently swelling body of the vase.
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József Molnár
1821–1899 · HungaryJózsef Molnár was a Hungarian painter known for his landscapes and historical scenes, who also spent time painting portraits in Stuttgart.
Further Works by Molnár
Slender Woman with Vase
1894 · Art Institute of Chicago
Bathing Women
1880 · Hungarian National Gallery
Shepherd Boy
Hungarian National Gallery
Festival in Bretagne
1895 · Art Institute of Chicago
Inclinasions (1-5-71)
Art Institute of Chicago
József Csáky
Art Institute of Chicago
Untitled
Art Institute of Chicago
Portrait of a widow
1850 · Ernest Zmeták Art Gallery
More works to explore
Beyond Molnár: works from the same years.
Same era · 1880s–1910s
A Woman Walking in a Garden
Vincent van Gogh · 1887 · Frans Buffa & sons
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Still Life with Crayfish
Mikhail Larionov · 1900 · Museum Ludwig
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Frauenkopf vor Sonnenblumen
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · 1906 · Museum Frieder Burda
Same era · 1880s–1910s
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884
Okada Saburosuke · 1884 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Madame Léon Clapisson
Léon-Victor Dupré · 1883 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Rue de l'Epicerie, Rouen (Effect of Sunlight)
Camille Pissarro · 1898 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Water Lilies
Claude Monet · 1898 · Kagoshima City Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Émilie
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1897 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Jean Renoir Sewing
Pierre-Auguste Renoir · 1899 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
The Kiss
Edvard Munch · 1897 · Munch Museum
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Two Tahitian Women
Paul Gauguin · 1899 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Maternal Caress
Mary Cassatt · 1896 · Philadelphia Museum of Art
