The statue, called ?Medieval Master Smith?, showing a member of Jungfer?s own trade, was based on a design by Leó Fessler and first shown at the 1885 Hungarian Salon.
Jungfer?s workshop on Berzsenyi Street in Budapest turned out many of the capital?s finest examples of wrought iron ornamentation. Examples can be seen at the Parliament building, the Király Palace, the Várkert Bazaar, the Vigadó Theatre, the Opera House, Keleti Station, the former Wenckheim Palace, now the Szabó Ervin Library, and the Gresham Palace, as well as at many of the famous villas along Andrássy Boulevard.
The Museum of Applied Arts has in its collection more than 200 molds and plans from Jungfer?s workshop. It plans a retrospective of Jungfer?s work in the near future, according to museum director Imre Takács.
Gyula Jungfer (1841-1908) was a defining figure in Hungary?s fin-de-siécle architecture as well as the historicism movement. He learned the trade in his father?s workshop and, as a requisite to becoming a master, travelled to Vienna, Salzburg, Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg and Halle. In 1872, he started his own workshop.
He elevated the trade of iron smith to a new level. He was a member of some of the most important trade associations at the time and a winner of many prizes at home and abroad, among them a grand prize at the Paris World Exhibition of 1900. After his death, Jungfer?s son took over the workshop.
After it was shown at the 1885 Hungarian Salon, the statue ?Medieval Master Smith? was brought back to the Jungfer workshop in Berzsenyi Street. During WWII, it was damaged, but afterward it was repaired and brought to another Jungfer workshop ? now called Metalworkers? Enterprise ? in Timót Street.. There it remained until 1990, after which it was again restored, this time in Szentendre, north of the capital.
