Zlatar Jovan Nikolić

Abstract

Zlatarska umetnost u Srbiji tokom XIX veka doživela je temeljnu transformaciju usled promene kulturnih modela i preklapanja odgovarajućih umetničkih praksi. Uvođenje serijske proizvodnje i industrijalizacija, kao i zakoni o kontroli kvaliteta zlata i srebra, važni su činioci koji preobražavaju stari kujundžiluk u moderno zlatarstvo. Jedan od glavnih protagonista i paradigmatski primer ovog kulturnog procesa bio je beogradski zlatar Jovan Nikolić, koji u srpskoj sredini deluje od druge polovine XIX veka. Ovaj rad ima za cilj da potpunije prikaže njegov zlatarski opus, publikujući nepoznate radove i građu za Nikolićevu biografiju, kao i njegovo učešće i ulogu u kreiranju srpske građanske vizuelne kulture u drugoj polovini XIX veka.

The goldsmithing art in Serbia went through a thorough transformation during the 19th century because of the changes in cultural models and overlaps of corresponding artistic practices. The introduction of serial manufacture and industrialization, as well as the laws on the quality control of gold and silver were important factors which transformed the old tinsmithing into modern goldsmithing. One of the main protagonists and a paradigmatic example of this cultural process was a Belgrade goldsmith Jovan Nikolić. He had been working in Serbia since 1850, when he moved with his family to Belgrade from the Habsburg Monarchy, until 1899, when he died. His work was preserved in silver and it was shaped in the historical styles of the time, from late Biedermeyer classicism to the second rococo and neo-Baroque. A large number of his works was preserved in church treasuries so using that opus we can gain insight into the entire nature and manner of his work. The quality control of gold and silver by the Serbian state can also be followed in the example of Jovan Nikolić. He brought from the Habsburg Monarchy the manner of hall-marking, which included a craftsman’s stamp and the 13 silver solder purity, which had been in use in Serbia as well. At the beginning of the 1870’s the state introduced the Cyrillic transcription and the Serbian Prince’s coat of arms as part of the hall-mark. Furthermore, in 1882 King Milan Obrenović brought the law on the control of gold and silver with new, generally binding hall-marks. The participation and role of goldsmith Jovan Nikolić in the creation of Serbian visual culture in the second half of the 19th century is significant for the study of pieces of applied art and, through them, the civil culture and way of life, both in the private and public sphere. Nikolić equally shaped civic artifacts objects as well as the religious ones, with a deep understanding of their function. He used the advantages of contemporary technological ways of production and the acquired taste of the time thus transforming the traditional tinsmithing into civil goldsmithing which suited the needs of the independent Serbian state.