A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve: Studia Ethnographica 3. (Szeged, 2001)

Markos Gyöngyi: Az 1848/49-es forradalom és szabadságharc Csongrád megyei emlékei a tárgykultúrában

The Memories of the 1848/49 Revolution and War of Independence in Csongrád County's Object Culture A relatively rich object collection that preserves the memory of the 1848/49 revolution and war of independence survived in the Southern Hungarian Plains. One part of this collection originates from immediately after the war of independence, while the majority from the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. The objects that can be found in the collections of the museum in Csongrád county are primarily folk art pieces, rarely articles for everyday use. Craftsmen, peasant specialists and humble peasants made them. Mihály Maksa from Hódmezővásárhely, György Szabó and Antal Kiss potters from Makó stand out among the others when we consider the exhibited objects. According to their classification based on the materials they were made from, we can conclude that mainly clay pots (bottles, flasks, ink containers) and wooden objects (blade holders, honey-cake beetle, objects for everyday use) survived. There are a fewer objects made from leather (tobacco sacks, woman's coat) and textile (cartman's coat). The most commonly applied motive is the arms of the nation, which symbolises national pride, independence and republic. The folklore objects contain simplified illustrations of the official arms of the nation. Beside the arms of the nation patriotic texts, as well as short sentences and long stanzas of verses can be found: „Long live our homeland!", „Oh, My Lord Above, Let me Live until I see my beautiful country free. Bring it the day of freedom, Bless the Hungarian nation!" The depiction of the weeping willow or its references in texts refer to the suppression of the war of independence. On the fewer occasions we can find illustrations of military men, 'honvéds' i.e. the Hungarian soldiers. The memory of Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894) is still vividly present in Hungarian folklore. It is especially prominent in our region. His death and his honoured funeral furnaced his cult, which was further strengthened by his centennial birthday anniversary. 260