H. Kolba Judit szerk.: Historical Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum Guide 2 - From the Foundation of the State until the Expulsion of the Ottomans - The history of Hungary in the 11th to 17th centuries (Budapest, 2005)

ROOM 6 - Hungary Split into Three Parts. The Ottoman Occupation (second half of the 16th century-17th century) (Ibolya Gerelyes)

51. Turkish broadsword set with nephrites, 17th century the Hungarian ones are indicated by the pedestalled bowls and cups of glazed pottery. With the Turks a numerous Southern Slav population arrived in Hungary, partly as first generation Muslims, partly as auxilliary forces, for example, the so-called marauding soldiers. Peasant inhabitants from the Balkans came to Hungary as refugees from the Ottomans and settled in the southern territories, which were becoming deserted as a result of the border skirmishes. Accordingly, objects and everyday utensils characteristic of them come to light primarily in southern Transdanubia and in the southern parts of the Great Plain. Almost without exception, southern-Transdanubian excavations yield the roughlymade pots, turned on a hand wheel, of the so-called Iflak (Vlach) population. The treasure troves containing Balkano-Turkish jewellery - poor-quality silver headand-gown ornaments with pendants and earrings of an unusually large size - are also of Southern Slav origin. The silver bowls, decorated with the images of saints and Cyrillic inscriptions in Old Slavonic, point to a Balkan, perhaps a Serb, workshop and to a religious use; they may have been made by an Ottoman-Turkish master. Most likely the work of an Ottoman master, the small bowl (Fig. 50) displayed in the first part of the room bears the name of Friar George and the date 1537. The bowl, buried near Makó together with two Gothic silver beakers by its one-time owner during the Fifteen Years' War (1593-1606), may have been the work of a Hungarian master working under Turkish influence. Besides the simple objects for everyday use, through the mediation of the well-to-do strata among the conquerors luxury objects of Oriental origin also appeared in Hungary - for example, fine bowls and cups imported from far-away China, exquisite celadon ware with its pale green glaze and also made in China and rare in Europe, and examples of Syrian pottery. This last-mentioned is represented by a pot with a turquoise glaze. The products of two prominent centres of Ottoman pottery, the Iznik ware and later Kiitahya ware sought throughout Europe, also appeared in the occupied territories of Hungary. A gorgeous item is the Iznik faiance dish, made about 1570, in whose flowers, red roses and tulips we recognize the favourite motifs of Hungarian folk art of a later date. From the first half of the 16th century onwards, we find in the possession of aristocratic and noble