Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 26. (Budapest, 2008)
Lilla ERDEI T.: Kerchiefs Adorned with Bobbin Lace Pendants from the Second Half of the 17* and First Half of the 18th Century
description: "Else, a white embroidered kerchief to be worn in the pocket, four pieces of lace for the corners". In the estate of Katalin Héderváry (1681), 17 the mention of "four pieces of lace" among the half-ready works and "old laces" probably alluded to four lace pendants belonging together. In the inventory book of the Botpalád congregation 18 there is mention of a kerchief with aristocratic embroidery: "kerchief, dense cambric, identical flowers in the four corners with red, yellow, blue and green silk, a lace sewn to the bottom of each flower stitched all around in yellow"f The inventory of the Kissáros Unitarian church alludes to the origin of the laces in Upper Hungary: "all around there is fine Toth [i.e. Slovak] lace of one and a half fingers in width, adorned at the four corners with round discs also of similar Toth lace the size of a small palm each". 10 There was no standard terminology for the lace corners, all sources and studies naming them in different ways: "fourpieces of lacefor corners", "lace lobe", "rounddiscs the size of a small palm", "round lace lobes," "bobbin lace ornament of round shape", "thread-lace lobes", "pillow lace pendant". Specimens in the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts Exceptionally, the Museum of Applied Arts has three special sets of lace pendants in its collection. One belongs to a kerchief with aristocratic embroidery, another to an altar cloth, the third is an independent lace piece. All are palm-sized and almost wholly circular. They are similar in shape and technical execution, but their designs and colours considerably differ. Kerchief The first object is an extremely fine kerchief with aristocratic embroidery, adorned with trimming lace all round and with lace 6. Kerchief with aristocratic embroidery, Museum of Applied Arts, inv. no. 90.127.1 pendants at the corners. 21 (ill. 6) It came into the Museum from a private person in 1990 and used to be worn in Maros county (Transylvania, today Romania). It is embroidered in silk and silver wire, the lace is of white linen thread. In the corners there are pomegranate flowers on stems on either side 7. Altar cloth, Museum of Applied Arts, inv. no. 13978
