Agria 43. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2007)

Veres Gábor: A népi bútorok Gömörben

VERES Gábor 2005 Lakáskultúra. In: Heves megye népművészete. 125-173. Eger. VERES László 2005 Asztalosok. In: Kézművesipar Északkelet-Magyarországon, (szerk.: Veres László-Viga Gyula). Miskolc. Gábor Veres Folk Furniture in Gömör in the 18th and 19th Centuries In the field of folk domestic culture there were several settlements in northeastern Hungary which exerted influence in their capacities as centres of furniture production. The most distant of these were the villages of Babaluska, latterly known as Babarét, (Babinec, Slovakia) and Kiéte (Kyjatice, Slovakia) in the historical county of Gömör, from whence a large number of carved chests appeared. There were also other villages in Gömör County, like Rimazsaluzsány (Rimavské Zaluzany, Slovakia), which were active in the making of cupboards, flour-bins, for which there appeared to be a huge demand. Apart from the settlements mentioned above, the Rima Valley is also mentioned in connection with the production of carved furniture. The same can also be said for the Murány (Murán) and the Felső-Balog (Vysny Blh) valleys. It was not only the carved chests made in Gömör County that found a market across northeastern Hungary, there was also the furniture. The main problem that faces us when examining objects like the carved cupboards is that we know so little about the origins or the makers of those examples which survive. Nevertheless stylistic features and a knowledge of where they tend to be found can help us understand something about painted Gömör furniture. Gömör County in the period in question was one of the more advanced areas in Hungary in the applied arts on account of the rich variety of disciplines that were practised there and the many forms they took. The fact that the historical county was bounded by mountains to the north, making the agricultural land poor and difficult to cultivate, meant that the local population was more liable to make a living by making things with their hands. 219