Agria 42. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2006)

Bodnár Zsuzsanna: „Ringass még…”. Díszített bölcsők Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg megyéből

usage, and which, according to the concise dictionary, is a "small wooden, rockable bed set on a bow-shaped base, in which you can lay an infant". The widespread talpas bölcső, can be divided into two major groups, the closed boarded cradle and the barred cradle. The rocking ringó bölcső is less common and not as widespread as its legged equivalent. The 19th century saw a significant growth in the Hungarian population, the region of present-day Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County included, with the result that the cradle became a much sought after item of furniture. Several types were used, from the home-made versions to the painted cradles made by professional carpenters. Those turning their hand to the task would use all manner of woods, the self-taught cradle-maker settling for something more simple and straightforward, while the specialist added carved, and the joiner, painted decoration. With the exception of those with sinuous carvings and saw-work on the bases, sides and frames, many of the purely decorated examples in existence fail to show the creative, decorative powers present in folk art. With the poor, and those with large numbers of children, parents were content with unpainted cradles showing the natural colour of the wood. There were nevertheless phases when they were either painted light or dark brown, green or, later, white. One single cradle would have been used of course through several generations, and often by several families. In the open-air ethnographic museums, county museums and peasant cottages open to the general public, cradles are positioned in different places, sometimes in the shed or stored away in the roof. 250