Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 13. (Budapest, 1993)

VADÁSZI Erzsébet: Apafi Mihály tükre

although he still considered it a simple, small and insignificant one compared to Duke Esterházy 's embossed and mounted, silver table from Augsburg. Yet he mentioned the mirror in his three-volume study, which he was to publish. Despite his opinion, he mentioned the mirror together with the virginal of Katherine of Brandenburg and the piano of István Thököly.

4 The closable wings were explained by the fact that "they were to protect the glass from breaking during the journey" but also suggested the special use by the"altar-like" structure, since the description goes on as follows: "This is shaped - though it is much smaller -, just like the altar-like mirror found in the 1710 inventory of Munkács".

5 Mirrors in 17th century aristocratic and noble manors and courts were respected as treasures and rarities. István Bocskai, ruling prince of Transylvania at the beginning of this century, "was able to look at himself in a steel mirror with silver frame"

6 Mihály Apafi could "receive" his mirror in Crimea, while Pál Esterházy could order his one at Christoph Jordan in Augsburg.

7 The difference between the two verbs "receive" and "order" explains the distinct quality of the two objects. The silver, parcclgilt, chased, chiselled, filigree, painted enamel parts and the jewel decoration of Esterházy's mirror are leplaced by black-hlaiiicd maplcwood, and a possibly machine-made serial tin frame band, parchment, colourful, sparkling mica and a "cheap", inferior implementation on Apafi's one. However, its cultural historical value is great and it was a personal belonging for everyday use of a ruling prince of Transylvania. The small or huge, round, rectangular or polygonal hand and wall mirrors were to add grandeur to Hungarian manor houses; according to written sources they were usually given as a royal or principal present, marauded or bought for a great amount of money in Augsburg, Vienna or Venice in the 17th century. Among Christmas presents received from the French, Polish kings, from the Viennese court or the Turkish sultan we can find, for example, a mirror toy in the list of toys owned by the child Mihály Apafi II, which was sent by Leopold I: (rough translation) "a combination of convex and concave mirrors, in which dispropotionately huge and small, wide and thin distorted images arc reflected."

8 Pál Esterházy must also have received the mirror, which is described in the 1725 Fraknó inventory as a "gilt, pure silver Turkish mirror with a long handle", which "is richly set with turquoise" as a gift or captured it in the battles.

9 On the other hand, Dávid Rosnyai did not receive but sent "two big mirrors in ebony frames"

10 to Apafi's house in 1608. These were likely to be Venetian, since the ebony-framed mirror on the southern wall in one of the big rooms is definitely considered to be Venetian by experts.

11 Moreover, the writer of the Esterházy inventory also stated that the Venetian mirror had a black frame, since: "beside the silver coat of amis of the Esterházy family that was on the wall... there was a mirror of cut Venetian glass, in a black, stained frame mounted with silver flowers."

12 As Radvánszky states about István Koháry's Venetian mirror with an ornamental glass frame: "The protruding, high upper part of the frame is provided with an inscription burnt into the material: "Rántsd ez supcrlátot Nézd, kit szemed lát ott, Ékes, deli szép-e, Avagy szája tátott?" (rough translation: Draw the draperies