Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 31. (Budapest, 2017)

Ildikó PANDUR: Restoration of Metalwork from the Esterházy Treasury in the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts: Past, Present and Future

outbreak of the war—and not in storage, but on permanent display in the first floor halls.

For centuries, the fabulous treasures of the Esterházy princes, heads of one of the most influential aristocratic families of the Kingdom of Hungary, were cloaked in legend. Until the end of the First World War, the treasures were held in the palace of Fraknó (now Burg Forchtenstein, Austria), which the family acquired in 1621 and took occupation of in 1626. (Fig.l) A few selected rarities were taken out from their registered places—such as the shelves of numbered almeries—for grand occasions, Baroque celebrations or coronations. At such times, the stewards of the estate, the guardians of the treasure, documented the

transaction and handed them over to the princely bodyguards, who escorted them to Kismarton (now Eisenstadt, Austria) or Eszterháza (since 1950 Fertőd).

The first time the public got even a glimpse of the princely collection was in Budapest in 1876, at a display of art owned by private collectors held in aid of flood victims, the Historical Exhibition.7 Subsequently, the Museum of Applied Arts held (in the halls of the National Museum) a ‘grand exhibition of gold- and silversmiths’ works’ with seven and a half thousand exhibits in 18 84,8 and even more items from the treasury went on display at the Millennial Exhibition of 1896.9

The Hungarian Soviet Republic took the Esterházy treasures into state owner1. Forchtenstein Castle from the West, copper engraving, Matthias Greischer, c. 1683, Burgenländisches Landesmuseum, Eisenstadt, KS 860

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