Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 18. (Budapest, 1999)

Emese PÁSZTOR: Száz év múltán - ismét a "majc-kérdéshez"

THE "MAJC" ISSUE REVISITED - A CENTURY ON Summary During the last tliird of the 19 century a broad debate developed in Hungary in connection with the origins of enamel which drew contributions from the best experts in Hie field. During the course of this Flóris Ferenc Rómer asserted that the Hungarian word majc, which occurred in old Hungarian documents but whose meaning was unknown, was a Hungarian synomym for three foreign words meaning enamel (smaltum, Lat.; émail, Fr.; and Schmeltz, Schmaltz, Ger), thus prompting further suggestions. Some of the opinions relating to the meaning of the word majc were as follows: a dialect form of the word zománc (enamel); costly strapping produced by harness-makers and braidmakers; a bridle trimmed or embroidered with leather; ribbon woven from silk and metal thread; and button work. The majc debate continues still, since even after the passage of a hundred years we do not know for sure what our forebears understood by die word. Nevertheless, in full knowledge of countless facts and definitions, die present author believes that examples of dus particular type of work must inevitably have survived in Hungarian collections. The problem is that we do not know what it was exaeüy that our ancestors called niajc. By presenting views and source data and comparing them with surviving work, die present article attempts to move nearer to a solution of die majc riddle. The earliest occurrence of the term majc is in 15th-century Latin sources, as a synomym for the words cingulum and halteus, meaning belt. But as a component part of men's and women's belts, so-called majcos pártaövek, braided silk belts and belts consisting of a single strap, it often crops up in 16th- and 17tli-century inventories of chattels belonging to Hungarian aristocrats. Strapping for swords, carbines and powder-holders belongs in the second category of sources mentioning majc. The third, last and at die same time the largest category consists of so-called majcdecorated strapping, denoting a type of harness for horses. Tnere is much data to indicate that Hungarian aristocrats, and princes of Transylvania, often arranged for majc to be made and purchased in Constantinople. The use of majc was general in the 17th century. Having summed up the data concerning museum collections, for majc we would have to look for a sturdy, enduring, woven work made around die period from the I6Ü1 to die early I8Ü1 century which was made by craftsmen from skófium (silver or silver-gilt Üiread a hair's breadtíi in diameter) or from silkthread and metal Uiread or from cotton on braided saddles or chairs, of narrow and broad kinds. The Hungarian National Museum collection preserves a number of 17tii-century Transylvanian so-called clasp-belts, the surface of which was dien covered with silver-gilt wire (i. e., skófium) looped into tube form and dien flattened, edged with strips of velvet, and placed on the leather strap. This type of belt covered witii this special work we have identified as resembling "skofium-covered" belts and "belts with gold and silver majc". We can form an idea of the belts and sword straps from examples which have survived in foreign collections. The production technique used for this category of straps - so-called warp twining - occupies a place halfway between weaving and braid-making. Warp twining is a meüiod of weaving which produces a structurally identical surface in each side, and where the warp is all die time turned, and accordingly two or four strands are twisted togedier for weaving (two-strand or four-strand twining), hence die thickness of die strip varies. It can be made using "tablet weaving" or can be "beaten on a saddle", using fixed or loose-ended braiding. Like the above strips dûs technique also belongs to socalled buttonmaker's work. In die knowledge