Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 13. (Budapest, 1993)
PÁSZTOR Emese: A Jancsika - egy 17. századi török lótakaró típus
are in foreign collections and two of them are in the collection of the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts. All of the above mentioned covers consist of three pieces, padded with felt, linen or horse-hair: a front piece and two side flaps. The sides are divided into front and back parts by the curved cut line marked by the saddle at the top and the stirrup at the bottom. 24 Let's go through the known relics according to the above categories: the Museum's collection contains a beautiful example of közönséges jancsiks (see pict.l) 25 The name is a little confusing because it looks ordinary only if we compair it to the others, since its surface is covered with çatma, a red velvet woven with gold and silver thread. A speciality of this caparison is that its rhomboid pattern follows the cut of the cover - it was woven according to shape. No analogous pieces have been found so far. There is an embroidered jancsik in the former treasury of the czars in the Moscow Kreml. 26 Four other pieces of the same type, which is called "raziomny chaldar" (detachable csótár) in Russian, can now be found in the Oruzheynaia Palata in Moscow; according to literature, there are köves and kuracel versions among them as well. 27 The other caparison of the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts is a representative of the most frequent boglárokkal rakott (jewelled) jancsiks (see pict.2). 28 The caparison comes from the Esterházy treasury of Fraknó; it is in fact only one of the covers mentioned in the inventories: in 1693 there were five, in 1696 nine, while in 1725 there were already 22 jancsiks of similar decoration in the treasury. 29 The dark purple silk velvet surface is covered with pressed, partly engraved silver and silvergilt mounts, applied with thin leather strings. The corners of each part are decorated with a huge shell mount, with an authenticity mark equipped with the initials ("tugra") of Sultan Mehmed IV (1648-1687) and the date 1058/1648 (see pict.3). Pieces of similar mark but without date can be found in the Badisches Landesmuseum of Karlsruhe (two pieces) 30 and there also used to be one in the Batthyány-Strattman collection of Körmend (see pict.4) 31 There is a jancsik frontal without date, having a red velvet base, applied with gilt jewels, in the Czartoryski collection of Cracow 32 and a simpler, complete one with gilt copper applications again in Karlsruhe. 33 A beautiful specimen of armour kuracel jancsiks is again in Karlsruhe 34 ; its whole surface is covered with gilt and silvered steel plates applied to a red velvet; the fabric appears only on the thin connecting part. A similar velvet caparison, covered with rosette-shaped steel plates and mounted with gold and silver rivets, together with a 1706 version of pierced, gilt and silvered plates, is illustrated in the album series published by the Czar's treasury in 1853. 35 Another, much simpler example of kuracel jancsiks is the red leather one covered with wire fabric and decorated with pressed and cut applications of gilt and silvered copper; formerly it was in the Batthyány-Strattman castle of Körmend (see pict.5). 36 The original function of the jancsik was probably to protect the horse's body with an armour, which was different from the complete Turkish horse armour set 37 in that it left out the neck and the head of the horse. Turkish sources mention some jancsiks among horse gears used in the days of the war, possibly referring to a simpler, armoured or wire-covered versions used in warfare. The richly gilt, silvered, embroidered jancsiks, often applied with jewels and precious stones are usually mentioned among the splendid horse equipment for gala marches. These ones rarely stand alone: 7 or 9 caparisons are
