Veres László: Üvegművességünk a XVI-XIX. században (Miskolc, 2006)

HUNGARIAN GLASSWARE PRODUCTION IN THE 16TH—19TH CENTURIES

The latest research results accumulated from the 1970s made it possible to define the formal and decorative characteristics of the rustic or peasant glass made in the Carpathian Basin as well as the identification of their place in glass craftsmanship. This set of problems was summarised in the small monographs by László Veres, Hungarian Folk Glass and 17—19"' century Peasant Glass in Hungary. It is clear from these works that in the territory of the Carpathian Basin over 110 both small and large glassworks were operating, which were foUowing the relevant social structure when they produced simple glass products for every day use with a variety of decorations. It is also the merit of these studies that the place and role of peasant glass has been defined within folk art. In the book Hungarian Folk Art pubkshed in 1975, which presented an extremely precious and outstanding collection of material relics of Hungarian folk art, there was only one glass item, a holy water container, which represented the glass products used in peasant and smaU town and bourgeois households. The third major shortcoming of Béla Borsos's monograph can only be redeemed by archaeology, as the majority of the relics from the Middle Ages have been damaged and can only be recovered as a result of extensive excavations. During the time of Borsos's work several excavation sites had been opened. As a result of the research findings of archaeologists, it was only the pubkshed results of József Höllrigl's work and the oral reports of the archaeologists that Borsos could base his study on. Some of the results of the recent archaeological excavations have already been pubkshed. The excavations have recovered a significant number of glass works and primarily glass fragments. With the help of these we can today present the technological as well as the artistic level of the former glass-making in the Carpathian Basin. The works of Katalin H. Gyürky and Fdit Mester present a penetrating study of the glass materials recovered in the excavation at the castles in Buda, Diósgyőr and Visegrád. As for the processing of the glass relics of castles and palaces from the Middle Ages we have plenty of kterature: they deal with Baláca, Eger, Pacin, Ozora and other places. These archaeological pubkcations provide evidence for the earker hypothesis that the initial development of Hungarian glass craftsmanship was influenced by several factors. However, Hungarian products were always present side by side with foreign products. Their unique composition can only be reconstructed by complex chemical procedures. In addition to that of Venetian glass art, the Byzantine and German influences also show that in this branch of the applied arts the formal solutions as well as the stylistic trends and technologies produced a varied mixture of unique qualities. As a result of nearly one and a half centuries of research, but especially that of the past fifty years, we can make another attempt at presenting a comprehensive picture of the history of Hungarian glass making. Fásuló Veres