JÓZSEF KISS'S SILHOUETTES

Stammbuch, from 1769 until the early 1800s

József Kiss (1748- 1812), one of the best-known hydrologic engineers of his age, was the designer, together with his brother, of the largest water resource project of contemporary Europe, the Franz Canal . Kempelen was an important proponent of the Kiss brothers' canal plans in the Austrian court.
In what was a popular institution at the time, the Stammbuch or book of friends, in which one collected travel notes, the signature, insignia or portrait of friends, Kiss documented the persons who played an important role in his life through their silhouettes, along with their attributes, symbolic representations of their profession. József Kiss's album is a typical example of the 18th-century Stammbuch, in which the early, written entries slowly give way to genre pieces, still lifes, emblematic drawings and silhouettes.