The Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague is an institution devoted to artistic crafts, applied arts and design, housed in its own building on the edge of Prague's Josefov.
The Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague collects, processes and preserves objects of artistic crafts, applied arts and design. According to its own presentation, the museum aims to become a place of education that links applied arts with architecture and the fine arts [1].
Foundation and early years
The founding of the museum was prepared by the Chamber of Commerce and Trade, which in 1875 opened a permanent exhibition of handmade products in the building of today's Platýz on Národní [1]. The impulse for such collections was linked to concern over the decline of handicrafts in the era of advancing machine mass production [1]. Česká spořitelna provided the chamber with exhibition space in the newly opened Rudolfinum, and in February 1885 the museum thus effectively came into being and began operating with its first regular exhibition [1]. In 1886 the first permanent display was opened, and a year later a library with a reading room [1].
The building
The shell of the museum's own building was erected in 1897 and 1898 to a design by the architect Josef Schulz in the Neo-Renaissance style with French models [1]. The plot for the construction lay between the Old Jewish Cemetery and Sanytrova Street on the edge of Josefov, and the building work was carried out by the firm Schlaffer a Hübschamnn [1]. Work on the interiors continued until 1900, when the first floor with the collections and a public library was opened [1]. The main façade is decorated with reliefs bearing the emblems of crafts by Antonín Popp and Bohuslav Schnirch; the first floor shows crafts such as basketry, goldsmithing, locksmithing, lacemaking, weaving, pewter work, plate armour making and bell founding, and the second floor cartouches with the coats of arms of towns associated with the artistic crafts [1]. The interior decoration was designed by Josef Schulz [1].
Patrons and collections
The museum's patrons included Bohumil Bondy, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Trade, Václav Němec, former chairman of the board of trustees, and Imperial Councillor Josef Wohanka [1]. The collector Vojtěch Lanna donated half of his glass collection to the museum, which is why the museum today holds a developmental series of glass objects from antiquity to the present; according to the museum, it is one of the largest glass collections in the world [1].
Directors
The first curator and director of the museum was the art historian Karel Chytil, who also took part in the Commission for the Inventory of Monuments of Prague and in the beginnings of heritage protection in Bohemia [1]. After him the museum was briefly led by František Adolf Borovský, a historian of art and book culture, followed by František Xaver Jiřík and Karel Herain, who engaged in supporting Czechoslovak design and applied arts [1].
The twentieth century and present position
During the German occupation the building was taken over by the aircraft firm Junkers, and the museum's collections were stored at various places in the countryside and in the National Museum [1]. In 1949 the museum was nationalised [1]. From 1959 to 1969 it was merged with the National Gallery Prague, and since 1970 it has again operated as an independent institution founded by the Ministry of Culture [1].