Fügedi Márta: Állatábrázolások a magyar népművészetben (Officina Musei 1. Miskolc, 1993)

Representation of animals in the hungarian folk art (summary)

based on their way of picturing and the frequency of their occurence they are regarded as individual occurrences. The typical representations of animal forms applied in the Hungarian folk art can be divided into different groups according to their visualistaion. In most cases the animal forms occur on plane-ornaments, represented usually from side-view, in full figure. The most characteristic types of picturing roughly in chronological order: Representation of animals can be found relatively rarely in the definitive geometrical compositions, characteristic to the 17th and 18th centuries. If animal forms appear, their representation is very stylized, schematic, and in general, they are inserted in the ornament without becoming its integral part. This way of representation appears mostly on the contemporary powder-horns, presumably the animal forms served the aims of hunting magic. Animal forms occur generally in connection with the flower ornaments, being the most wide-spread type of ornament in the Hungarian folk art. Usually the animal motifs form a close compositional unit with the piant ornaments. The animal forms are integrally inserted in the system of plant ornaments. Considering this type of picturing the „flower-bird" pairing is the most wide-spread motif. The symmetry or the aspiration to symmetry - being present in the whole composition having effect on the animal motif as well - is considered to be the most characteristic sign of this ornament type. The animal motifs appearing in figurai depictions showing a scene are ranked as a different category. This category includes some ornaments tracing back to préfigurations of several hundred years, picturing biblical lessons (Adam and Eve, Abraham and Isaac, Daniel and the lions, the good herdsman, etc.), and in accordance with the story of the lesson, animals - generally as accessory figures with symbolic meaning - are also represented on the ornament. The spreading of representations showing scenes placed on different folk works can be observed rather in the 19th century. In the Hungarian pastoral art the spreading of figurai ornaments showing scenes dates back to the first half of the 19th century, representing probably the most peculiar aspect of the Hungarian folk art, as a whole, with their authentically popular way of pcituring. In general the animals occur as accessory figures on the depictions showing sceen, but they play a very important role in the stylization of the scenes, and have also determining role in the form and composition of the picture, since they contribute to end the scene and to create an equilibrium. Those animal representations where the object itself is the whole animal or a part of the animal are considered as a separate category. The occurrence of this type is relatively rare in the Hungarian folk art. We can find it mostly in case of ceramics: spirit flask, money-boxes, tobacco-boxes are made in animal form (pig, bear, ram, hedgehog, wolf, etc.) It is worth mentioning the little earthenware animals prepared with the aim of placing them in Christmas Nativity cribs or they served other magic functions. The wedding cake was decorated with a bird made of pastry, the bird had different local denominations. The bird sewn of pearls on the head of bridesman 's stick originating from Kalotaszeg also belong to this category. In these cases, taking the special function of the object into consideration, the bird form was presumably used as a newer love-symbol. The earthenware whistles are regarded as individual small-sculptural repre-