The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1985 (12. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1985-05-01 / 5. szám
Folk Art It was in the beginning of the eighteenth century that the present style of Hungarian folk art took shape, incorporating both Renaissance and Baroque elements, depending on the area, as well as Persian Sassanide influences. Flowers and leaves, sometimes a bird or a spiral ornament, are the principal decorative themes. The most frequent ornament is a flower with a centerpiece resembling the eye of a peacock’s feather. Nearly all the manifestations of folk art practiced elsewhere in Europe also flourished among the Magyar peasantry at one time or another, their ceramics and textile being the most highly developed of all. The finest achievements in their textile arts are the embroideries which vary from region to region. Those of Kalotaszeg in Transylvania are charming products of Oriental design, sewn chiefly in a single color — red, blue, or black. Soft in line, the embroideries are applied on altar cloths, pillow cases and sheets. In Hungary proper Sárköz in Transdanubia and the Matyóföld in the Great Plain produce the finest embroideries. In the Sárköz region the women’s caps show black and white designs as delicate as lace and give evidence of the people’s wonderfully subtle artistic feeling. The embroidery motifs applied to women's wear have also been transposed to tableclothes and runners suitable for modern use as wall decorations. Matyó folk embroidery, originating in Mezőkövesd, is popular both within Hungary and abroad. Shawls, tablecloths and aprons of black material are thickly embroidered with a dense accumulation of multicolored flowers in rich Oriental colors which harmonize despite their gaudiness. According to legend, there is a symbolism in the colors used in Matyó decorative work: black represents the soil from which life springs, red is the color of summer — representing light and joy — and blue stands for grief and death. Matyó embroidery decorates men's wear, too, providing men with coats, vests and shirts more ornate than anywhere else in the country. Peasant from Mezőkövesd in his coat, a splendid piece of A young Matyó couple Matyó folk art. The Eighth Hungarian Tribe with HUNGARIAN COOK BOOK in English-Attractive Covers Dear Mr. Chomos; I’m renewing my subscription and I don’t care when the mailmen deliver it. I love your subscribers in every State of the Union $3.50 r including Postage Bethlen Press. Inc. magazine very much. Very truly yours and Canada. P.O. Box 637. 1 iponier. PA I565X Irma M. Pongracz Pittsburgh, PA Page 2 Eighth Hungarian Tribe
