Csiffáry Gergely: A bélapátfalvi keménycserép - Studia Agriensia 18. (Eger, 1997)
ÖSSZEGZÉS - Gergely Csiffáry: The history of the earthenware factory in Bélapátfalva
Gergely Csiffáry: The history of the earthenware factory in Bélapátfalva The history of the earthenware factory in Bélapátfalva is not only interesting in the aspects of the district history. The operation of the factory is part of Hungary’s manufacturai industry history in the early modem times. It was also one of the most significant and most long range working factories. In the museums of Hungary a lot of earthen vessels produced in Bélapátfalva can be found. These products are recorded according to their different aspects by the historical museology, the science of the fine arts and ethnography. The history of the factory has only been analysed by the aspect of the science of fine arts so far, in the form of part studies often containing contradictions, because of this the elaboration of the history of the factory in a monographic way was important. This elaboration can be divided into two parts, in the first part the author deals with the main questions of the production, namely the technology of the earth vessel production, the history of the stoneware factory in Bélapátfalva and the history of the local red vessel factory. Followed by the analisation of the factory’s vessel signs and the experimentation’s of the productions of the factory according to four aspects, namely: function, quality, price and style. In the second part of the study the author deals with some of the social-economical relationships of the factory, namely: the identity and origin of the owners, renters and employees and the gathering of the employees. After this the effect on the population of the settlement caused by the factory is dealt with. Finally, the situation of the factory in Hungary’s ceramics industry is indulged upon. The factory in Bélapátfalva was established in the second period of the process of creating earthen ware factories. At this time was the factory of Telkibánya, Hollóháza and Miskolc established. The establishing of the manufacture in Bélapátfalva is dated back until 1832 which is also the time of the establishing of the works of Miskolc. The initiation was the idea of an entrepreneur called Riger who wanted to create a ceramic dish factory probably with the support of the seminary of the archbishop of Eger. He probably created the buildings of the factory. The seminary is likely to have taken an important part in the establishing of the factory, because since then it is mentioned as the owner of the factory. Then András Schnir had an unsuccessful initiation of establishing a porcelain factory between 1834 and 1836. Since 1842 József Hüttner also tried to produce porcelain, but due to the lack of the appropriate raw material the porcelain production in Bélapátfalva had got stuck at the base. József Hüttner finally succeeded in 161
