Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 30. (Budapest, 2016)
Szilveszter TERDIK: “Athonite” Miniature Carvings at the Museum of Applied Arts
The boxwood carving may have been made on Mount Athos or some other monastery in the Balkans in the nineteenth century. It is less highly refined than earlier pieces. Interestingly, a piece of coloured metal foil was inserted through openings carved at the ends of the shorter sides of the cross, to separate the scenes on each face more distinctly. On one side of the carving, in the scene of the Crucifixion, Mary and another woman stand at the base of the Cross, together with John the Apostle and the centurion (?). Above and below the central 2. Nikolics maker’s mark and town mark on the altar cross. Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, inv. no: 19124 field are author portraits of two evangelists, sitting before a desk, an open book in front of them or on their lap. At the ends of the horizontal crosspiece are half-length depictions of bishops, who cannot be identified for want of attributes or inscriptions. The reverse side shows the Baptism of Christ, and - as on the obverse - portraits of two evangelists and two bishops. We do not know the precise time or place that the cross was made, although on the inside rim of the base is a maker’s mark saying “Nikolich” and an as-yet unidentified town mark. (Fig. 2) Masters going by the name of Nikolich (or Nikolics) operated in the former southern territories of Hungary. In 1770 in Újvidék (now Novi Sad, Serbia), they were included in the same list as the Macedo-Vlach (Aromanian) masters of the goldsmiths’ guild, indicating that they originated from the Christian regions of the Ottoman Empire.20 Goldsmiths with the same family name lived in Újvidék in the first half of the nineteenth century as well,21 but there is also a reference from 1828 to a master named Miklós Nikolics in Zombor (now Sombor, Serbia).22 Earlier works on the history of fine metalworking in Hungary and its historical lands make no mention of a maker’s mark for the name Nikolics. More recently, András Grotte has published information on a few items which, based on their marks, can be positively attributed to one or other master named Nikolics, although it is not possible to specify which of them made the works. Judging from the town mark, Grotte suggests that they were made by a master from Szabadka (now Subotica, Serbia).23 The maker of the silver cross referred to in the present study cannot yet be determined, nor can the exact place where the cross was made. The brass case that contains the carving may have been renovated in the second half of the nineteenth century, for the initials of the person performing the work (IM) and the year 1870 have been etched on the inside of the removable element. The identity of the goldsmith who carried out the renovation is still shrouded in mystery.24 There is information about an earlier - but different - master from the southern territories who performed similar tasks: according to the donation inscription written on the haft of a silver mounting for an 58
