Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 16. (Budapest, 1997)

PÁSZTOR Emese: „Tafota, melyre az virágokat írták"

EMESE PÁSZTOR "TAFFETA ON WHICH FLOWERS ARE DRAWN" In the study of works of applied art which have survived in museum collections, museologists can discover the function, material and the technique of manufacture of an object in question, and if there is no mark or other indication to provide assistance, the time and place of its production can be deduced from analysis of its style. Experts are faced with a particularly difficult problem when identifying fabrics, because only some of them - upholstery and, in rare cases, embroidery and printed fabrics - bear marks. While the manufacturing techniques for upholstery, lace, fabrics and printed textiles are more or less known from comtemporary sources, relatively little data is available on the production of embroidery, seemingly the simplest ornamentation technique. This is why it is a pleasure to discover a source which can augment our knowledge by means of the analysis of the objects, by giving information on the circumstances of the making of a type of object. For a more profound and deep study of works of art is only really possible when, during the complex procedure of restoration, the details and constituent parts can also be studied. Such a set of objects in a state of serious decay - partly restored and partly awaiting restoration - is comprised by the 17th-century Ottoman-Turkish horse accoutrement textiles which form part of the Esterházy Treasury from Fraknó and which are looked after by the Textiles Department of the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts.

1 In the search for the origins of the individual pieces of the collection, the available Esterházy inventories provide little useful relevant data, so for this we turned for information to other comtemporary sources.

2 Legacy inventories and dowry lists can tell us the frequency of occurrence of a type of object (saddle, quiver, horse blanket, etc.), the material they were made from, and sometimes their place of origin and price. More detailed technical information relating to the circumstances of the manufacture of the object can be found in correspondence, autobiographies, travel notes and court records which give an insight into everyday life. It is known from these sources that the princes of Transylvania, especially Gábor Bethlen (ruled 1613-29) and György Rákóczi I (ruled 1630-48), purchased and had made ornamented horse accoutrements and other objects for use or decoration in great number, either for themselves or as presents to be given away. By reading the correspondence exchanged between Prince György Rákóczi I and his envoys at the Sublime Porte,

3 we can follow - from week to week - the difficulties that emerged in the purchase and ordering of pearls, precious stones, thread for embroidery, bird-nets, carpets, buttons etc., and occasionally the difficulties that emerged in the sale of exchange goods intended as the means of payment.

4 A good example of the complexities of purchasing goods of suitable quality is given in the correspondence between István Réthy, envoy to the Sublime Porte under György Rákóczi I.

5 The prince ordered pearls, of uniform size and colour,