Agria 42. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2006)

Váradi Adél: Különleges későközépkori talpas tál az egri várból

Adél Váradi A Late Medieval Pedestalled Plate from Eger Castle From the western 1. trench on the western side of the Szépbástya / Romanesque cathedral within the precincts of Eger Castle an interesting piece of late medieval pottery has come to light. The pedestalled plate has a yellowy white base colour decorated with vertical rows of light green-manganese brown spots covered in a transparent glaze. It has an indented rim, openwork sides, with five drilled holes (each with evidence of black burn marks around them) on its bottom. On its foot there is a triangular opening, and the plate has handles on both sides, with clay rings in them (ills. 1-2). On the top half of the plate section one can find the remains of openwork decoration making up part of a slightly sunken indented ribbon-like feature (ill. 3). From the little that remains of the feature is it possible to reconstruct a passage of hypothetical decoration (ill. 4). Very few late medieval plates of this type have been described in publications, and only seven examples (ill. 5) found. They are from Salzburg (Austria), Bajcsavár (Zala County) and Prague Castle (Czech Republic). The dating of the Eger plate and the location of its place of origin was based on an analysis of contemporary parallels and the accompanying excavated finds. The Salzburg examples have been dated to the second half of the 16th century, and are thought to have been made locally. The Bajcsavár plate, whose openwork sides suggest it was Austro-German, has been dated to 1578-1590, while the Prague example is 16th-17th century. Similar painted decoration has been dated to anything from the second half of the 16th century to the mid-17th century. The plate was found in the company of Renaissance-style and Turkish period finds, although the painting style and colours used have yet to be found elsewhere in Eger. This clearly shows that the plate is not of local provenance, being possibly the work of an AustroGerman potter. The use of such a ceramic type from the second half of the 16th century in Eger is probably makes it pre1596, in other words before the Turkish occupation of Eger, while it was probably discarded during the occupation. From the forms characteristic of late medieval pedestalled plates of a similar type and size one can conclude that they all served the same purpose. Thus it is thought that they were used to burn medicinal plants/fragrances/incense, their form having been adopted from metal ecclesiastical censers. In our opinion, therefore, we think it was a profane incense-burner, functioning in one of two environments: either as a domestic perfume-brazier, or as a burner used for disinfecting or medicinal purposes. 517