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

14. Fragment of altar frontal or nuptial bed-sheet border, Museum of Applied Arts, inv. no. 15498 the earliest issued in Selmecbánya (today Banská Stiavnica, Slovakia) in 1560, followed by one in Besztercebánya (today Banská Bystrica, Slovakia) in 1677, lacemaking was very popular in the mining towns of Upper Hungary already in the mid16'

11 century, and popularity did not slacken in the 17

,h

. In Mátyás Korabinszky's encyclopaedia of Hungary

34 there are data from Eperjes and Kisszeben (today Sabinov, Slovakia) in the 17

th-18

th centuries. It is also revealed that home-made laces were sold by members of the local guilds of button and passementerie-makers in nearby markets.

13 The patterns and scalloping of 18

th

—19

th century bed-sheet borders from Sáros and Gömör counties also suggest that they were made in Upper Hungary. The mentioned inventory-book of Kissáros registers the item as "Slovakian" made by the mountaindwelling Slovakian population of former Upper Hungary,

36 Kornél Divald and Ema Marková range them among the works made in Sáros county.

37 There is also a strange lace fragment in the Museum of Applied Arts. It is part of the border of an altar frontal or nuptial bedsheet shown in ill. 14.

38 The pattern and the arrangement into hexagons adopt the design of 15

th century Italian fabrics. In the hexagons there are aristocratic embroidery designs: in one line tulip and daisy, in the next, diagonally shifted line open tulips and pomegranate alternate. The designs in the tulip-pomegranate line face the opposite direction. At the meeting points of the units tiny flowers join the tiers. The diagonal arrangement and the different orientation of the flowers by tier suggest the influence of Persian fabrics. In the lower band the inscription "PA (with a three-point crown above it) BD 0 1685"

3

" can be read, referring to the date of the wedding of a noble couple. This lace fragment displays a lot of similarity to the discussed lace type. Common traits are the hexagonal-oval structure, the embroidery patterns made in pairs and composed into a frame, and the attachment of the central design to the outer band with mesh. The motifs and dating of this lace confirm the presumed place and date of the lace type. 4cS