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

Representation of animals in the hungarian folk art (summary)

both beaks and in his claws. The eagle has entirely turned into flower on some embroideries, only the indication of the eyes on the petal-like eagle head refers to the animal origin. The flag of the Agnus Dei may also turn into tulip, the head of the animal is decorated with a small flower tuft on certain representation. In other cases the flagged lamb is replaced by a lion or a horse figure. On a powderhorn originating from Székelykeresztúr, a petal-like crown was graved on the head of the lion and there is a flower instead of his tail tassel. Occasionally this tendency also includes the metamorphosis of the lion sometimes into a moster, sometimes into a cat-like or a dog-like animal. It may be very edificatory to analyse the representations of the pelican from this aspect. The pelican, the former Christian symbol, sometimes sits on a tulip with flower stem, or on a tulip-tree, e. g. on the carved horn of Kőtelek, or on the painted ceiling of Noszvaj. In other cases the pelican turns into a bird or a brooder with nestlings. Occasionally exactly the nestlings disappear, though they would be indispensable for the symbolic representation, and the animal becomes a stylized bird. The altered denominations reflects the sinking into oblivion and the lack of interpretation of the original meanings. Eg.: the „little-dog" denomination of the pattern on the bonnet decorated with Sárközi embroideries, a Transsylvanián glazed tile with eagle is locally called „insect" pattern, a tile decorated with flower and bird is called „card" pattern. The Agnus Dei pattern which can be seen in the pattern book made by Sibmacher was given the denomination „colt" and „elephant" on the Székely embroideries from Bukovina. The heraldic gryphon is called „rabbit" in Disznajó. The bird with flowery branch in his beak is a symbolic representation of several hundred years. In the folk art however the flowery branch can be held by other animals, as well: eagle, deer, lion, dolphin, fish, nixie and snake. Occasionally the animal forms are accomodated with the floral environment to such and extent, that certain organs of the animals almost tum into plant, the tail of the birds, the antlers of the deer are similar to leafy branches. The execution of the ornament and the applied methods are equally contribute to the harmonic adaption of animal forms to the composition as a whole. In the arrowhead-notched stylized environment, in the company of geometrical motifs, the animal form is also abstracted, geomatrical. On relief carvings striving to a naturalistic, detailed, well-elaborated representation, the figures of birds, deers and rams are also detailed, life-like. On the embroideries based on free-hand drawings the same stitch types are applied for sewing the flowers and the animal figures. We find great variety of surface-filling stitches applied on Transdanubian sheet-edges on the bird, peafowl, deer and lamb pictures. Where the execution of flower ornaments are rough and simplified, the animal motifs are also spot-like, scamped. In the closed composition of regular structure, the animal motif is regarded as the main motif. This can be proved by the fact, that in general the animal form with its location and size determines the ornament: the animals are situated on the two sides of the flower stem, they are often sitting or perching on the branches of the stem, and on some pattern variations they form exactly the axle of the flower-stem. For example on the gate carvings of Kalotaszeg a snake is coiling up instead of the stem. In case of some Transsylvanián embroideries a bird, an eagle, or a lamb is sitting in the middle of the stem, the