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

Representation of animals in the hungarian folk art (summary)

sentations. The whistles of animal form - usually of bird shape - were prepared to be used as children toys, and were sold by potters in church-ales and fairs. We can also find sculpture-like plastically formed animal figures on certain parts of some objects. This category includes the bagpipe heads, the animal shaped handles of sticks, cutleries and drinking-cups, as well as the lids which were used to cover the crockeries, bone homy or wooden pots and storing vessels, eg.: the lid of homy salt-holder with carved ram-shaped handle, originating from the Transsylvanián area, ram-, or snakeshaped turners of razor boxes, birds placed on the lids of earthen vessels. It is worth mentioning, among others, the working tools of animal head forms, eg.: carving chair, potato-masher, tobacco-cutter, etc. Now let's examine the characteristics of the ways how the animal forms are represented in the folk art. The majority of animal motifs on the ornaments are adopted from préfiguration and composition schemes of several hundred years. However the motifs on the decorated folk art objects have undergone peculiar changes, internal, individual modifications both in their forms and contents. In general the ornaments preserve the préfigurations and patterns traceable to different periods and cultural influences. The original rules of the adopted composition, the place and meaning of the individual elements may become eclipsed, may loosen and new ornamenting principles rearrange the motifs. The ways of representation applied in the folk art can be characterised by the strong aspiration to symmetry. In the majority of ornaments, symmetrical, closed compositions are created where the animal figures are in accomodation to the whole of the ornament. The symmetry was preserved not only in the ancient composition structures, such as the „flower-stem - animals in pairs" motif originating from the old picture showing together the fertility-symbol, i. e. the life-tree and the guarding animals at the foot of the tree. In this aspect the pelican, the Agnus Dei, the lion and the horse are equally represented in pairs in the folk art. The animal motifs of heraldic origin being present on the folk art ornaments are always composed in the spirit of the aspiration to symmetry. The structural theory aspiring to symmetry creates special new patterns by the reflection of the motifs along the vertical or the horizontal axle. This is how the ornaments showing flowers and animals in pairs near the flowers, all upside down, were created, this pattern often can be seen on embroideries, homespuns, glazed tiles, beaters, carved seats. The reflection and the aspiration to symmetry resulted in interesting consequences, especially in case of wovens. By reflecting, „overturning" this way the characteristic stylized „birds in pairs" motif-raw of the wovens, the heads or the tails of the birds touched, so a new, very decorative motif-unit has been developed, which is symmetrical to two axles. On the representation of animals, it is possible to follow how the contents and the compositions of the préfigurations were weakened, and how they were changed in accordance with the own needs and principles of the folk art. The eclipsing of the original rules and details of the composition entailed the transformation of animal forms into ornaments, their more and more integral insertion in the plant motifs, as well as their assimilation with the plant ornament. Eg.: the two-headed eagle losses its heraldical attributes, the sceptre, the sword and the crown, i. e. the symbols of the power. The body of the eagle turns into a heart, the long tail-feathers becomes petals, the crown is replaced by a flower tuft, the bird holds flowery branch in