Körmöczi Katalin szerk.: Historical Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum 3 - From the End of the Turkish Wars to the Millennium - The history of Hungary in the 18th and 19th centuries (Budapest, 2001)

ROOM 10. Hungary in the 18th Century (Gábor Németh)

16. Baroque cabinet desk, mid-18th century Court, the aristocracy broke with traditions and attempted to fashion on its Hungarian estates an environment and a way of life which were impressive and which matched the new needs. From the beginning of the 18th century onwards, Baroque palaces were built one after the other. Following French and Austrian models, the Esterházys, Grassalkoviches and other prominent families launched construction work. They were emulated by less welloff sections of the nobility, which built mansions and manor-houses of more modest specifications. The rich and high-standard furniture of the age is recalled by the cabinet desk ornamented with Rococo elements (Fig. 16), an outstanding example of the so-called Maria Theresia style in furniture. On its shelves faiance items meeting the requirements of the aristocracy have been placed. In 1743, Francis of Lorraine, Maria Theresia's husband, founded the first faiance manufactory on the territory of the Monarchy, at Holies (Holic), in Nyitra county. Its employees, who came from Italy and Lorraine, worked on a high artistic level. Italian ceramic art exercised a great influence on the high-standard items produced there (Fig. 17). In secular goldsmith's work, the forms and embellishments which had developed during the previous century gradually disappeared, hi the 18th century all branches of the arts, from architecture to the decorative arts, were imbued with the stylistic trends dictated by French taste. This is noticeable in clothing and in the items of goldsmith's work to augment the magnificence of clothes. On men s attire, the most beautiful accessories were clasped belts and jewelled plume-holders for fur-caps. The gilded silver dolman clasps embellished with coral belonged to the Esterházy family. Minutely-worked snuff boxes were customary accessories in polite male society. In jeweller's art, increasing emphasis was placed on precious stones, and on the mountings which set them off. Characteristic items of women's attire were jewelled pendants, ornamented needles