M. Járó - L. Költő szerk.: Archaeometrical research in Hungary (Budapest, 1988)

Analysis - TIMÁR-BALÁZSY Ágnes: Investigation of dyes on textiles from the collections of Hungarian museums

concluded that the robe was made in German renaissance style [65]. On the green silk damask, indigo and weld were identified. On the yellow yam of the lampasette gold fabric used for decoration weld was determined, while on the red yam Brazil wood was determined. The dye of Brazil wood was seldom used on Italian silk fabrics from the early 16th century since in the Italian workshops the more expensive insect dyes were applied to dye silk. Dutch researchers examined 185 medieval red yams and arrived at the conclusion that around 1500, dyeing by kermes or Polish cochineal was suspended in Italian workshops while madder and Brazil wood were used in MiddleEurope [52]. Accordingly, it might be the~case that the lampasette is of German and not of Italian origin. 4.4. Results of dye investigation on an archaeological garment from the 16th century A garment of a young girl aged 14—16 years was excavated in the protestant church of Boldva village. The colour of the textile was the so-called "archaeologicalbrown" but some violet colour could be discovered on the remains of the upper part and on the imitation silk plait (Photos 4—5). Cochineal was identified on the silk fragments of the skirt, the upper part and on the silk imitation plait. The wool lining of the skirt was dyed with madder [66]. As it is characteristic of 16th century textile dyeing, cochineal was used for dyeing silk and the cheaper madder for wool. 4.5. Results of dye investigation on finds from Palatine Joseph's family crypt The family burial place of Palatine Joseph (1776—1847) was broken into, burgled and ransacked past recognition at the beginning of the 1970s. A heavily browned dolman, a reddishpurple pair of trousers and a claret-violet vest were attributed to Palatine Joseph (Photo 6). Cochineal was found on the dolman and the pair of trousers, fuchsin and indigo were identified on the vest. Since fuchsin was discovered only in 1858, the vest could not have belonged to Joseph Palatine's costume. 4.6. Results of dye investigation on oriental carpets Investigation of 43 samples from Anatolian and Caucasian carpets from the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts provided an opportunity to identify dyes indigenous in the Orient. Besides weld, turmeric, saffron and Persian berries were determined. While on red yams of carpets from the 16th century often kermes was found, red yams of carpets from later periods were dyed with madder, and the violet coloured ones with cochineal. On brown yarns tannic, young fustic and oak could be identified; on the black yams tannic was found; and on the blue yams indigo could be identified. 4.7. Results of dye investigation on "coloured" blankets from Transylvania In the homes of Hungarians in Eastern Transylvania one often comes across a kind of woollen blanket resembling a small oriental carpet which is called "coloured" blanket or carpet (Photos 7-8).