Vezető a Déri Múzeum kiállításaihoz II. A Déri gyűjtemények. 2. javított kiadás (Debrecen, 2001)

135 POPULAR CERAMICS HUNGARIAN FINE CERAMICS, FAIENCE, STONEWARE, AND CHINA The vessels that are extant from the seventies of the 19th century show more and more signs of a decline in the artistic and technical level of production. Potters still lived and worked in Debrecen at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century but in fact they only made simple objects of everyday use. Among the so-called Middle-Tisza centers of pottery the most outstanding was in Mezőcsát. We have put on display some vessels coming from there, too, so as to indicate their connection with Debrecen. Pottery in Mezőcsát produced one of the highest artistic level styles of Hungarian peasant ceramics. The most popular figure of vessels is the socalled "Miska"-jug. According to a consensus among researchers of ceramics history, Tiszafüred pottery is considered to have been emanated from Mezőcsát. In the last gallery, we find vessels differing from the previous ones both in color and in decoration. These are the products of a pottery center in Nagyvárad. As far as pottery in Nagyvárad is concerned, at present we know only that it looks back on a great past and had an important role in the i8th-i9th centuries. The few exhibits display a typical style. The potters worked on white background, using yellow, green, and sometimes brown colors. Their decorations are also typical of the region, including wavy lines, star-shaped flowers, and lobed leaves. They expose a slightly Byzantine and archaic influence. In the hall of ceramics, the first items on display are the works of "Habán" potters. The Habans came to Hungary in the second half of the 16th century because they were persecuted for their anabaptist religion. The Protestant