Bányai József: A vadászat tárgyi eszközei - A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum tárgykatalógusai 2. (Budapest, 2010)
József Bányai Hunting Weapons and Accessories THE HUNTING COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF HUNGARAN AGRICULTURE Hunting originally satisfied real and basic human needs. The reason for its continuing existence derived from the value of its own traditions and the rules observed during its pursuit, making it one of the most important sources of culture. Research and expert literature concerning the history of hunting are parts of historiography. The history of hunting, alongside with the law, ethics, and art of hunting together are constituents of hunting culture. From its foundation, the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture has presented and popularized Hungarian hunting and its culture. Vajdahunyad Castle in Budapest is widely regarded in Hungary as the venue for the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture, even though the institution has always been dedicated to the exhibition of the objects and records of Hungarian game management and hunting culture, not just plant production, animal breeding, forestry, fishing, etc. In 1896, on occasion of the millenary of the Magyar Conquest, a six month long exhibition was organized in Budapest. The exhibition was divided into a historical and a modern section. The Museum of Hungarian Agriculture inherited its romantic castle from the historical section and most of the material of its first exhibitions from the modern section. The museum’s deed of foundation was signed on 20 June 1896 by agricultural minister Ignác Darányi.1 The building complex, serving as the venue for the historical section and later for the museum, was designed by the famous architect Ignác Alpár, in Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance styles. Hunting, at the time of the museum’s foundation, was envisaged by the contemporary political and economic leadership as a constituent of Hungarian agriculture. At the end of the 19th century, when the museum was established, acquiring necessary hunting objects and trophies posed a serious problem. Shortly before the official opening Alajos Paikert wrote a letter to Ödön Lenk in Marienbad asking him to provide 10-15 deer trophies from his famously large and excellent collection to the forestry and hunting exhibition.2 Unfortunately Lenk refused to part from any item of his collection, so he replied in the negative. Among the hunting objects - guns, knives, powder flasks, hunting horns, handloading tools etc. - the largest assembly, 229 objects, consisted of the deposited material of Tódor Kertész.3 On 12 September 1897, the day of the official opening of the museum, the first permanent hunting exhibition of the country was presented to the visitors in the Gothic Wing of Vajdahunyad Castle. The museum in that period consisted of 30 departments, and hunting was delegated to the forestry department. One of the reasons for this solution was that in contemporary national agricultural policy hunting - from the viewpoint of national economy - was not nearly as important as, for example, hydraulic engineering or water regulation.4 Paikert however soon realized the importance of hunting and approached Darányi. He asked the minister to guarantee that collections of agriculture-related branches such as hunting would also be provided with suitable facilities. He continued in his letter: ‘Agricultural products are by their nature not decorative enough and as such will not interest the lay audience to a sufficient degree. It is necessary therefore to acquire objects that could make the museum more interesting and attractive. Such items are especially the hunting trophies, which always have an impact and will attract a wider and more general audience.’5 After the conclusion of the Paris World Fair in 1900 the museum acquired two valuable items of hunting history. One of them is a hand-painted hunting map, the other is a highly decorated album of bag lists, containing the personal lists of the greatest contemporary hunters as well as the lists of the largest manorial hunting grounds that had been kept for 100-120 years. It was written in French, with a beautiful copperplate handwriting. The album is 38 by 27 cms and weighs 5 kilograms. Its ornate outer cover displays the outstanding art of János Morzsányi, a fancy-goods shop owner and badge maker in Budapest. Only one copy was made, therefore it is priceless from the viewpoint of hunting history. The building complex housing the museum had been meant to stand only for the duration of the millenary exhibition, and the temporary structure soon began to sink and crack. During July 1899 the collections were moved to a rented house at 72 Kerepesi (present-day Rákóczi) Road. Some collections (such as forestry, hunting, water engineering, fishing) were transferred to the Romanesque Wing, which had already been built of permanent materials, and finally to the Bakócz Chapel in the Renaissance Wing. Most items of the hunting collection consisted of game birds donated by the 1 Guide to the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture, Budapest, 1907, p. 9. 2 Archives of the Museum Hungarian Agriculture, IX. 868/400. 3 Ibid, IX. 867 4 Kísérletügyi Közlemények, January-December 1937, 1-6: p. 264. 5 Archives of the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture, IX. 867/175. 12
