Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 18. (Budapest, 1999)

Emese PÁSZTOR: Száz év múltán - ismét a "majc-kérdéshez"

that majc work was also buttonmaker's work and could not have been die same as braid or any other type of buttonmaker's work, the present author believes that by majc made from skófium our forebears understood looped ribboning, while by majc made from silk and metallic thread they understood ribboning made using the warp-rwining technique. The key to our "majc hypothesis" is provided by comparing sources mentioning weapon hilts covered in gold and silver wire in the "majc manner" with surviving artefacts of this type: the structure of these purely goldsmidi's works is the same as the looped and/or braided buttonmaker's works. ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Clasp-belt. Transylvania, 17* century. Hungarian National Museum, Budapest, Inv. No.: 59.143C 2. Portrait of Ferenc Batthyányi, 17

th century. Hungarian National Museum, Historical Portrait Gallery, Inv. No.: 563 3. Portrait of Ferenc II Rákóczi as a Child (1684) Hungarian National Museum, Historical Portrait Gallery, Inv. Nr.: 2254 4. Two sword straps woven from blue silk Rüstkammer Collection, Dresden, Inv. No.: Y 48 - Y 49 5. Turkish saddlecloth, so-called Yanchik with silk ribboning. Left: Tablet woven from red silk; edged with leather at the ends. Right: silk ribboning strap made from raw red silk using the warp twining technique and fixed-end braiding. 6. Sabre and heavy sword. Vienna, 1600 Made by Nikolaus Groß. Rüstkammer Collection, Dresden, Inv. No.: Y 351 7. Hilt of heavy sword. 16^ century. Hungarian National Museum, Budapest, Inv. No.: 55.3248 DIAGRAMS 1. Drawing showing the structure of looped ribboning made from skófium on a claspbelt. (The technical sketches 1 and 4-7 were made by Katalin E. Nagy.) 2. Sabre strapping for attachment to a belt. Reconstruction. Drawing by Béla Posta. 3. Shoulder strap for a sabre. Reconstruction. Drawing by Béla Posta. 4. Braiding made using the warp twining technique. Left: 2-strand twine, "Z" twist; right: 4-strand twine, "S" twist. 5. Warp twining technique, with alternating "Z" and "S" twists. 6. Warp twining technique. Tablet woven ribboning. 7. Warp twining technique. Fixed-end and loose-end braiding