Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 24. (Budapest, 2006)

Lilla ERDEI T.: Chantilly-Laces in the Textile Collection of the Museum of Applied Arts

and usage of these peculiar tulle laces, mainly the special Chantilly lace made this way was the privilege of the French royal court and became the privilege of the ladies of the upper aristocracy in Europe, mainly in France and in Russia, too. In the highest number and best quality it was made in the manufactures of the French Bayeux, Caen and the Belgian Grammont and Enghien. This kind of lace was used only for the decoration of women's dresses and accessories. Small pieces were made - as an insertion for skirts, sunshades, bags, bonnets, cloaks and stockings; used simply or combined together with other kinds of laces. The most beautiful pieces are the huge shawls, veils, mantillas, sunshades and bonnets, which were made entirely from Chantilly lace. With the progress of automation - which gained more and more space concerning Chantilly laces too - it turned to be a favourite decoration of the bourgeoisie class at the turn of the century. In the middle of the 20"' century, the haut couture was willingly applied with its machine made varieties. Collectors and donators The most beautiful and highest number of Chantilly laces in the first place can be connected to the wives of Count Károly Hunyady. Dr. Ottó Fettick and Count Alfonz Bolza. A few outstanding pieces got into the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts through György Rátlf (tie), Ms István Tubák (sunshade), Mária Rózsa (handkerchief), Ms András Mikola (fragments of crinoline lace). A stole, decorated with peculiar, white, Chantilly-lace was given to the Museum's collection from the residence of Archduke József Habsburg. THE WIFE OF COUNT KÁROLY HUNYADY, IRMA MÁRIA NÁDASDY (1873, Agárd - 1925, Soborsin) Countess Irma Mária Nádasdy was born in Agárd, in a peer family. She and her husband belonged to the highest aristocracy, to the escort of the monarch. Among her ancestors were the Nádasdy, Forray, Zichy and Kray families. She was a lady of attendance, she acted in favour of virtuous life and charity, and was also active in the Order of the Star-Cross. Her husband, Count Károly Hunyady had close cousinhood with the Zichy, Pálffy and Festetics families.

1 He was the royal chamberlain and was the life member of the upper house. The style of their clothing followed the court's fashion, so mainly Western European influences affected their dresses. Most of their expensive and high-quality clothing and accessories were bought in Western Europe. Countess Károly Hunyady complemented the collection of laces, based on the preservation of family heritage with her own collection. Concerning her social status and date of birth, we can state that most of the laces belong to her own stock of clothes. Her significant collection represents the lace fashion of the late 19

lh-early 20"' centuries with Valenciennes, applied, Malines and Chantilly laces on bonnets, trimmings, crinolines, stolas, collars, aprons and blouses. From these, the handmade Chantilly laces stand out in quantity and value: a connected pair of crinoline laces, a huge, triangle-shaped shawl, a narrow tie, an interesting bonnet and three hat veils. She systematized her collection in Soborsin (Transylvania, today Romania) on February 20"', 1904. She wrote German definitions on paper and attached them to the laces; in most of the cases she also measured the pieces (Fig. Ha). Her collection, including 172 pieces of laces was taken to the Museum of Applied Arts in 1991, bought by Péter Dudás and Ibolya Dreska. DR. OTTÓ FETTICK (1875, Budapest - 1954, Budapest) He was born as the son of a spice merchant. He was soon preoccupied with collecting and medicine, more precisely from his college years, i.e. from the turn of the 19"' and 20"' centuries. He worked as a veterinary surgeon, a researcher and a university teacher, later he also dealt with paediatrics. He spent his inheritance and earnings on enlarging and improving his collection containing 5000 pieces of valuable objects of applied and fine arts. Besides collecting objects of previous ages, he also bought contemporary pieces with great skill, so we have a detailed picture of the previous years' and the early-mid-20'

h century Hungarian applied art.

4 The most important