Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 30. (Budapest, 2016)

Edit DARABOS: Altera Theca continens.A Research Into Historical Leather Cases made for Esterhazy Treasury Items

binding. The binding was not necessarily made at the same time as the book was printed.74 Identifying the bookbinder’s workshop, which must have been somewhere in the vicinity of the Esterházy and Nádasdy estates (Vienna, Wiener Neustadt), is not an entirely hopeless venture. The high quality of gilding implies a master of vast experience, so finding analogue bindings may provide us with additional information.75

The findings of this study should be regarded as a preliminary summary of this topic, and further systematic analysis is required, as is research into additional analogue pieces. Deeper examination of the workshop in Augsburg may result in greater historical understanding not only of the Esterházy cases, but also their counterparts, referred to only partly in the study, and also the objects of precious metalwork with which the cases are associated.

NOTES

1 Hungarian National Archives (Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltár, hereafter MOL OL) P 108 Rep. 8. Fase. C. No. 38+NB 1. p. 54: Altera Theca continens unam Doudenam Cultrorum, Furcinularum cum Manubrys ex ebore, diversarumque figurarum. Probably identical with: Cutlery set, E 75. 2, South German, 17th century.

2 The museum’s research into the cases was made possible with the support of the National Cultural Fund. The fragments were selected, identified and conserved jointly by the author and Róza Brenner, who also carried out complete restorations and chemical analyses. Without our joint work, the research published as part of the present study would not have been possible. A summary of the conservation work will be part of the next study. During the project, we were assisted by the restoration team at the Museum of Applied Arts (Mária Szilágyi, Márta Tóth, Noémi Varga, Gábor Juhász, András Kovács, György Németh, and Péter Orosz) and by Veronika Szilágyi. Special thanks go to Dr Ildikó Pandur, senior curator of the Collection of Metalwork, who supported our work all the way through.

3 Szilágyi, András (ed.): Műtárgyak a fraknói Esterházy-kincstárból az Iparművészeti Múzeum

gyűjteményében [Artworks from the Forchtenstein Esterházy treasury now in the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts], Budapest, 2014 (hereafter Szilágyi 2014); Pásztor, Emese (ed.): Textiles from the Esterházy treasury in the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, 2010; Horváth, Hilda: Nemzeti kincstárunk. Az Esterházy hercegi kincstár 20. századi története [Our national treasury. The twentieth-century history of the Esterházy princely treasury.], Budapest, 2014.

4 Kiss, Erika: ‘Czédulák egy főúri kincstárból. Adalékok a fraknói tárház történetéhez.’ [Labels from a nobleman’s treasury. Contributions to the history of the Forchtenstein treasury.] In: Művészettörténeti Értesítő 2011, issue 2, pp. 303-311; Kiss, Erika: CA fraknói tárház, ahogy Esterházy Pál megalkotta.’ [The Forchtenstein treasury, as established by Paul Esterházy.] (hereafter

Kiss 2015) In: Ács, Pál (ed.): Esterházy Pál, a műkedvelő mecénás. [Paul Esterházy, patron of the arts.] (hereafter Ács 2015), Budapest, 2015, pp. 151-174.

5 When the removal took place, no register of the cases was made, and information is barely traceable in museum documents pertaining to the deposit.

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