A Veszprém Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 23. (Veszprém, 2004)

Schleicher Vera: Balatoni emlékeink. A veszprémi Laczkó Dezső Múzeum Néprajzi Gyűjteményének balatoni műtárgyai

RELICS FROM LAKE BALATON The purpose of this paper is to extend the results and lessons of the studies involving presentation and analysis of collections which have also gained a raison d'etre in the museology of this country in recent years. The investigation spans a small unit of the Dezső Laczkó Museum ethnography collection (20,000 items): approximately 1,400 objects which in some form (place of acquisition, place of manufacture, place of use) are linked with settlements along the shore of Lake Balaton, a confined section of the collecting area of the county museum. The chief goal of the analysis is to determine what sort of picture is conveyed about the area by the objects collected from the chosen territory (as some sort of process of scientific history, personal scientific deliberation, or the products of consciously directed or possibly developing prospecting work), and how much this picture is in agreement with the information which has been discovered by ethnographic science or local history writings on the history, population and folk culture of the settlements concerned using other sources and other methods. Compilation and analysis of the registration data of the selected objects, as well as carrying out a survey of the museum history databank material and the professional literature, also answer questions as to the role played by the area under investigation, and the store of items acquired from there, in the scientific concept of the museum over the hundred years since the establishment of the institution. The range of settlements for which a connection with the objects examined may be established coincides with the research points of the presentresearch project, launched in 2003 and specifically aimed at the Balaton area, so the analysis may also enrich the considerations of this investigation: the object types characteristic of the area are enumerated, and the range of „missing" objects is also indicated, for which an opportunity for collection or acquisition may be provided within the framework of the research project. A common feature of the selected settlements along the Balaton shore is that they provide an opportunity to interpret the Balaton shore way of life and material world, as the cultural formation influenced by the close vicinity of the lake (the water and the water's edge), through the changing history of these. Observations with regard to the indifferent attitude to the lake of the population along Lake Balaton during the hundred years are commonplace throughout the literature dealing with the Balaton region - calling into question from the outset the justification for making such enquiries. Tourism, however, which was becoming significant from the turn of the century, or in places from the 1930s, has contributed to the transformation of the settlements directly along the shore, in fact: the villages and towns directly along the shore acquired an aspect which contrasted somewhat with the other settlements of the Balaton region during the course of the 20

th century, simply due to the early presence of tourism, the seasonal coexistence and cultural interaction of holidaymakers with the local population. At first glance, the objects with reliable data from the point of view of „collection spot" cover the range of Balaton shore settlements pretty well. Within the collection area of the county museum, there are 22 independent villages and towns to be found on the shore of Lake Balaton, and there is only a total of three of these settlements from which not a single object has found its way into the museum. At the same time, the number of objects collected from individual settlements shows a very great scatter. The material culture of several villages is only represented by one object each, but from three villages, 150-200 objects have come into the museum. These objects may basically be divided into two groups: implements in local use (generally by peasants), and an appreciable group of objects from an ethnography point of view, which originate from various locations, and either by chance or thanks to some organisation principle have ended up in Balaton lakeside holiday homes or villas. For close to three quarters of the objects, the place of use is known as well as the scene of collection, which helps us to analyse and plot out the „life paths" of these objects. On the other hand, we know considerably less about the place and circumstances of manufacture of items, and the persons who produced them - particularly for objects collected in the first half of the 20

th century, this deficiency cannot be rectified. On the whole, it can be said about the circumstances of collection (although the concepts for making collections were produced in 1970 and distributed throughout the whole county) that they were mainly characterised by randomness. The methodology of all ethnographic museologists active in the county was characterised by the fact that their data collections and monographic subject compilations were not accompanied by a systematic acquisition of objects. In spite of this, analysis of the distribution of the collected objects according to object type and function indicates that the thematic ratios of this section of the collection are approximately identical to the ratios of the subjects discussed by classical ethnography studies and local history writings (for example, the prominent role of fishing and vine growing/wine production; the loss of importance for costume as a subject, etc.). In contrast to this, the material culture of tourism, the area which has significantly influenced the livelihood and identity of the Balaton shore population since the end of the 19

th century, is almost completely lacking: types of household and decorative implements, present in the homes of the local population, becoming widespread partially through the mediation of the holiday homes, as well as mementoes drawing on folklore elements. This unit of the ethnography collection in its present state, therefore, only represents one „face" of the material world of these characteristically „dual aspect" settlements - the treatment of this deficiency will be the task of coming years for the extension of the artefact collection. 231