Gunda Béla et al. (szerk.): Ideen, Objekte und Lebensformen. Gedenkschrift für Zsigmond Bátky - István Király Múzeum közelményei. A. sorozat 29. (Székesfehérvár, 1989)
Mária Kresz†: Kettle and Pot
Rimaszombat pots were called “Slovakian pots*’ or “linen pots” as they were almost white in colour. Medieval archeologists call a type “white ceramics” which is, so we believe, identical with the latter pottery of Gömör and Rimaszombat. So the Great Plain was supplied with pots from this region since centuries. In the late 19th century when the economical fireplace came into fashion called “masina” of by its German name "sparherd”, a novel kind of earthenware pot came into fashion too. This cooking pot has a broad base as the heat comes from below and it is glazed also on the outside as flames do not smoke its exterior. Cast iron cylindrical pots and modern industrial enameled ware also appeared from the 19th century on. All such cooking vessels are called “fazék”. The term “fazekas”, “potter” derives from the word “fazék”, “pot” as it does in many languages. The word “fazék” is of Finno-Ugrian origin, from the period when the Magyar language was influenced by an Indo-European language. There exists another expression for “potter” in some regions of Hungary, namely “gerencsér”, “gelencsér”, or “gölöncsér”. The Linguistic Atlas of Hungarian Dialects, Map 584, demonstrated the distribution of both expressions. The word “fazekas” occurs in the whole territory of the Magyar language, but in the south-western region, in County Vas, Zala, Somogy, Tolna, Baranya and in the southern part of the Great Plain, variations of “gerencsér” also occur. This south-western region is the same territory where — according to the map of István Fodor — (Budapest) earthenware kettles were most sporadic. The word “gerencsor” is of Slavic origin and derives from the ancient Slave word “grnő” meaning a “small pot”. Rough unglazed pots called “grnő” were made on a handwheel in Serbia not so long ago (Tomii 1966, 18). The word “gerencsér” might point to an early Slavic influence and to the survival of a primitive rural pottery. It shall be interesting to compare the map of these words with the Ethnographic Atlas as it appears. It is striking that nowhere in Hungary is a derivation of “grnő” used for pots. Even in the regions where the profession is termed “gerencsér”, the pot is called “fazék” (Kós 1944). So the word “fazék” is general in the whole linguistic territory of the Magyar language and has two meanings: 1.) the classical earthenware cooking pot, 2.) the metallic kettle. It seems doubtless that the earthenware kettle was called “fazék”. It follows that in the 10th-13th century two kinds of cooking vessels were in use: an earthenware kettle brought from the East suitable for cooking out-of-doors, and a local form cooking indoors. Both were called “fazék” with the ancient name of Finno-Ugrian origin. This can only be explained by supposing that the earthenware kettle was called “fazék” and when the Hungarians became acquainted with the pot, they named it with the familiar “fazék” word and not with a word of Slavic origin. They called it “fazék” even in such territories where they accepted the Slavic word for potter. ^ Mária Kr esi REFERENCES Balogh, Albin 1927 Az esztergomi múzeum bélyeges agyagedényeiről. (About the marked pottery of Esztergom.) Archaeologiai Értesítő XLI, 209—217, Budapest. Barabás, Jenő 1970 A lakóház füsttelenítéséről. (About making the dwelling house smokeless.) Ethnographia LXXXI, 276—287, Budapest. Bárczi, Géza 1941 Magyar szófejtő szótár. (Hungarian etymological vocabulary.) Budapest. Bátky, Zsigmond 1906 Útmutató néprajzi múzeumok szervezésére. (Guide to the organisation of etnographic museums.) Budapest. 1931 Kuruglya és kocsorba. (Fork for placing pot into oven.) Néprajzi Értesítő XXIII, 124—128, Budapest. 1934a Házvidékek és kultúrmozgalmak Kelet-Közép-Európában. (Types of houses and culturemovements within East- Central Europe.) Néprajzi Értesítő XXVI, 17—26. 1934b Alföldi kandallós-istálló és ősi magyar tűzhelyes-ház. (The fireplace in the stables of the Great Plain and the’ancient Hungarian house with a hearth.) Népünk és Nyelvünk VI, 8—13, Szeged. 1941 Építkezés — Táplálkozás. (Chapters on Architecture and Nourishment.) In: A magyarság néprajza (The Ethnography of the Hungarians.) Vol. I, 2nd ed. 1941, 37—231, Budapest. Benkő, Loránd—Deme, László 1968—73 A magyar nyelvjárások atlasza. (Atlas of Hungarian Dialects). Budapest. Borzsák, Endre 1941 A régi tűzhely, ételek, étkezés. (Gomba, Monor, Pest m.). (The old hearth, food, meals in Gomba and Monor, County Pest.) Néprajzi Értesítő XXXIII, 219. Ecsedi, István 1935 A debreceni és tiszántúli magyar ember táplálkozása. (Nourishment of the Hungarians of Debrecen and the region east of the Tisza.) Debrecen. 254
