Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 27. (Budapest, 2009)
Emese PÁSZTOR - Márta TÓTH - Anikó PATAKI - Andrea VÁRFALVI: Turkish Cases from the Esterházy Treasury
ANIKÓ PATAKI The Restoration of a Seventeenth-Century Bow-Case (Inv. no. 52.2881) from the Esterházy Treasury Description of the artefact, production technique The entire surface of the embroidered front side of the case is covered by metal-wire embroidery in relief decorated with applique. The edges of the motifs are contoured with wine-red and green silk thread and twisted metal-wire cord. The lining of the artefact consists of goatskin, while its back panel is made from thicker calfskin. The edges of the two sides are bordered using strips of parchment. The ground fabric of the embroidered front panel is turquoise-coloured linen (bagazia) 5 4 stiffened on its wrong side using paper covering. In the inside part of the case, which follows the curved shape of the bow and which tapers towards the bottom, no wooden stiffening can be found. 55 The arrow-case belonging with the artefact corresponds to it with regard to embellishment and production technique. The precise technique for tracing the design on the bagazia used as the vehicle for the embroidery is at the present time unknown, since the embroidery covers its surface completely. Silk taffeta bearing a design was laid on the surface of the velvet inserts used on the central parts of the flower motifs. This fabric was cut off along the edges of the motifs after the sewing on of the insets. 5 6 The silk taffeta can be seen on some of the incomplete surfaces with the help of microscopic investigation. For the making of other parts of the embroidery, first of all cotton threads were attached to the linen as padding. This cotton thread provided the plastic character of the flower motifs and the background. The characteristic metal-thread embroidery seen on top of it was made using the so-called maras and zerduz techniques. A characteristic of the former was that strands of silver and silver-gilt wire, in other words skófium twine, were attached very close to one another us11/1. Pre-war archive photograph of the intact case 91
