Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 22. (Budapest, 2003)

Márta JÁRÓ: On the History of a 17th Century Noblemans' Dolman and Mantle, based on the Manufacturing Techniques of the Ornamental Metal Threads. Or de Milan, Or de Lyon and Silver of Clay Ornamentations on a ceremonial Costume from the Esterházy Treasury

dezett műipari és történelmi emlékkiállítás tárgyainak lajstroma [List of the objects displayed in the applied-arts and historical memorial exhibition in aid of the Hungarian flood-victims held in the Budapest residence of Count Lajos Károlyi in May 1876]. Compiled by I. Henszlmann and Zs. Bubics. Published by I. Szalay. Budapest, 1876, cat. no. 33. 11 Masner, K.: Die Costüm-Ausstellung im k.k. Österreichischen Museum, 1891, Vienna, 1891, 10. 12 Höllrigl, J.: Régi magyar ruhák [Ancient Hungarian costumes], Officina, Budapest, 1944, 6. 11 Szilágyi, A.: Rescued treasures of the Esterházy collection, in: Cultural heritage and restorer in the changing world, Contributions of the 8* International Restorer Seminar, Sárospatak, 1993, 24-37. 14 See for example the note of the Venetian diplomat Giustiniani on the 14 year old Leopold, the heir-apparent (after the death of his brother, in 1655): "... di statura non grande ..." (Fontes rer. Austr. XXVI, 397.), or the description of the envoy Molin written in 1661 about the then 21 year old ruler: "... di statura piu tosto bassa, ch'a alta ..." (Fontes rer. Austr. XXVII, 48.). 15 Inventarium Thesauri in Arce Frakno existentis. Anno 1693. die Januarii., MOL, P. 108. Reposit 8. Fase. C. Nr. 37. (hereafter: Inventarium 1693), 51. Trigesimo tertio An Ladula sub Armario Decimo, item 4: "Tezulae antiquae Duae Suae Serenitatis, quibus in Adolescentia usus fuerat" (interpretation of Mihály Détsy). The meaning of the word "tezula" has yet to be determined; but it most probably refers to an item of clothing, since according to the inventory this chest contained clothes. 16 In the 1696 Fraknó inventory (Inventarium Thesauri Cels/issimi/ S/acri/ R/omani/ I/mperii/ P/rincipis/ Pauli Esterhas R/egni/ H/ungar/iae/ P/alatini in Arce sua Frakno existentis. Anno 1696, MOL, P. 108. Reposit 8. Fase. C. Nr. 38), however, no item refers to "His Majesty"; while in the 1693 inventory four items are so attributed (items 4, 6, 8, 9, Inventarium 1693, 51.). At the same time, the later inventory in the case of several items indicates to whom the garment in question belonged: here are noted various items belonging to King Matthias, Archbishop Miklós Olah, and several items of István Esterházy (d. 1641). 17 Bock, F.: Goldstickereien und Webereien in alter und neuer Zeit und das dazu verwandte Goldgespinnst, Bayerisches Gewerbemuseum in Nürnberg, Nuremberg, 1884. 18 See for instance the classification system which for a given metal-thread type gives the data for the textile dated to the earliest and latest date in the group to which the analysed sample belongs: Járó, M.: Metal Threads in Historical Textiles. Results and further aims of scientific investigations in Hungary in: Molecular and Structural Archaeology: Cosmetic and Therapeutic Chemicals, eds,: Tsoucaris, G. and Lipkowski, J., NATO Science Series, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003, 163-178. 19 The cost of the scientific analyses was met by grant no. T 037936 from the Hungarian National Fund for Scientific Research. 20 Hoke, E. and Petraschek-Heim, I.: Microprobe analysis of gilded silver threads from mediaeval textiles, Studies in Conservation, 22, 1977, 49-62. 21 In the course of our macro-morphological examinations we examined the morphological structure of the thread. If it was composed of a metal and a fibrous material (e.g. metal strip wound around a fibrous core), we also identified the fibrous material. In the micro-morphological examination, we looked for and identified any traces left by the manufacturing tools and instruments. 22 Because of the inconsistent nature of the surface of the samples, the examination was only "semi-quantitative", i.e. the percentage composition could not be determined with great accuracy. For the scanning electron micrographs and the material examinations, I thank Dr. Attila Tóth, physicist at the Research Institute of Technical Physics and Material Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. 23 Description by Tompos, Lilla, in: Az európai iparművészet stíluskorszakai - Barokk és rokokó [Periods in European Decorative Arts: Baroque and Rococo], Iparművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, 1990, eds.: Péter, M. and Bardoly, I., Budapest, 1990 (hereafter: Baroque-cat. 1990), cat. no.: 2.58. 24 I thank Réka Semsey, art-historian at the Museum of Applied Arts, who has been of great assistance both in the sampling of the textiles and in providing information from the special literature. 25 Hawthorne, J.G., Smith, C. S.: On Divers Arts. The Treatise of Theophilus. Translated from the medieval Latin with introduction and notes by Hawthorne, J.G. and Smith, C.S., New York, 1979 (hereafter: Hawthorne and Smith, 1979), 3

rd Book, Chapt. VIII. 26 See for example the two "Schokenzieher", two wiredrawers sitting on a swing (Brother Dietrich in 1425,71., and Brother Pemhart in 1533,229.), or Brother Eberhard in 1529, 214. etc. in: Das Hausbuch der Mendelschen Zwölfbriiderstiftung zu Nürnberg. Deutsche Handwerkerbilder des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts, hrsg.: W. Treue et al., Bruckman, Munich, 1965. 27 As described by Theophilus Presbyter in the 12

th century in connection with the production of gilt-silver thread. See: Hawthorne and Smith, 1979, 3

rd Book, Chap. LXXVI. It appears that another manufacturing method is described by Vanoccio Biringuccio in the mid-16

th century in his work "De la Pirotechnia", but in spite of the fact that he uses the term welding, it is highly probable that he in fact refers to soldering using a copper alloy. See: Biringuccios Pirotechnia. Ein Lehrbuch der chemisch-metallurgischen Technologie und des Artilleriewesens aus dem 16. Jahrhundert, (Üb.: O. Johannsen), Verlag von Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn Akt.-Ges., Braunschweig, 1925, 451-452. (hereafter: Pirotechnia, 1925). Formerly we assumed that we could use the term "soldering" only if it was possible to detect an increased percentage of copper at the junction of the two metals. However, having recently performed a relatively large number of analyses, we are inclined to the opinion that the copper found on the gilt surface and in the silver could have also diffused from the copper contained in the soldering material to the outer and inner surface of the double-metal sheet, which is almost always thinner than 0.3 mm.