Zprávy památkové péče 2017, 77(3):254-259

Jan Tumpach and the path to Czech mosaic material

Zuzana Křenková

Fakulta chemické technologie VŠCHT v Praze

The development of mosaic glass in the Czech environment, famous for its high-quality glass products, was one of the foundations of the First Republic's domestic industrial production. The Hradec Králové Glass Institute was involved in the promotion and support of the idea of "Czech Mosaics" since 1924. Attempts to introduce a stable mosaic glass production, however, were not initially successful. The call for Czech mosaic glass production was finally heard only in the early 1930's. The challenge was taken up by the builder Jan Tumpach, whose small specialized glassworks operating in Prague Záběhlice was able to quickly produce accurately split material in a sufficient range of color shades. A significant part of this was the results of experimentation by the glass technologist Michal Ajvaz (1904-1994).
From the very beginning, the optimistically developing business bet on well-established creators with whom they immediately combined their activities. In 1931, Tumpach's studio transformed two stills by Emil Filla into mosaics from the "new Czechoslovak mosaic material", although the workshop also worked from designs by Antonín Procházka and Jan Zrzavý. Cooperation with the Glass School in Železný Brod formed a separate chapter in Tumpach's activity, especially with Oldřich Žák, who introduced the teaching of muse art here.
The mosaic glass itself, together with an extensive advertising campaign and mosaic presentations at world exhibitions, contributed to the success of the company, closing a number of prestigious contracts in the 1930's. In cooperation with architect Kamil Roškot, a mosaic was created on the vault of the tomb of the Czech kings in the temple of St. Vitus. Between 1935 and 1939, Tumpach's company installed several figural compositions in the National Memorial on Vítkov. These were the mosaic image of the Song of Peace, designed by Jakub Obrovský, and primarily the decoration of the Hall of the Fallen, designed by Max Švabinský. From 1935, the company worked on mosaics that were to replace the older wall paintings of Mikoláš Aleš in the lobby of the Old Town Hall in Prague. The sudden death of Jan Tumpach, however, interrupted the course of the last works. The company's mosaic activity was subsequently paralyzed by its former employees. Michal Ajvaz left the company, taking the documentation and recipes for the production of glass with him, and the artistic manager of the workshop Stanislav Ulman cost the studio the ongoing order in the interior of the Old Town Hall. Tumpach's company was unable to prevent the loss of trust, and the business did not recover its original renown. The premises of the factory were eventually rented for another use, and the supplies of the prized domestic mosaic glassworks were taken over by the staff of the mosaic workshop of the Center of Artistic Crafts. The final blow to the activities of Jan Tumpach's company came with its socialist successor.

Keywords: Jan Tumpach, Michal Ajvaz, mosaic, glasswork, National Liberation Monument

Published: September 1, 2017  Show citation