Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 60-61. (Budapest, 1971)

KISEBB KÖZLEMÉNYEK — ELŐADÁSOK - Borsos Béla: Korai magyar fürdőkúra-poharak

Borsos Béla : Korai magyar fürdőkúra-poharak 263 Summary The scholars of the history of glass, the museums and the collectors have not found water cure glasses worthy of attention until quite recently. However, the study of this class of objects holds out hopes of results, that would prove useful for a general history of glass as well. The marking of glasses—either made by glasshouses or by an individual artist—was very seldom customary. So the lack of marks, contrasted with the other forms of pottery, renders attribution and systématisation more difficult. Here comes to the aid a study of spa- and water-cure glasses. Both in Hungary and in Austria or Bohemia the fashionable health resorts were often situated close to the big glass-making centres. We suppose, the spas were supplied with watering glasses mostly by the nearby glass houses. Besides, it came into vogue, that glass-engraving schools were flourishing in the spas and their artists engraved with decorations the crude glass-material imported from the glass houses. The water cure-glasses are often identified by inscriptions and dates, which makes exact attribution possible. Thus the glasses identified, on the basis of their material we can draw conclusions relating to the products of the nearby glass house and on the basis of their decoration to the peculiarities of the engraving schools working in the spa. In his discussion the author deals with the watering glasses of the historical Hungary of an early phase of their fashion in the early 19th century. Within the few known examples he managed to mark off a group showing very special characteristics. Such ones are the water cure glasses of Bártfa in Northern Hungary, which were local products. With the help of these glasses the identification of glasses of unknown origin is possible. Other groups of characteristical examples can be ascribed to towns like Teplic, Ránk, Pöstyén in Northern Hungary, Balatonfüred in Transdanubia and Mehadia in the south. From the second half of the last century we know a great deal of Hungarian water cure glasses, but only a more detailed study would enable us to systematize them. In this regard the greatest problem is set by an abundant Bohemian import. The author thinks even those glasses are to be dealt with in the framework of Hungarian glassmaking which were imported from Bohemia but decorated with engraved ornaments in Hungary. In this period the glass houses developed step by step from manufactures into "factories" and the glassblowers gradually became separated from the engravers considered now as artists. The artist who endowed the objects with cut and engraved decoration thus determining their character and value, was working far from the glass factories in his municipal shop and his work reflected the taste and influence of his surroundings.