Middle Ages Reserve Collection

The Middle Ages Reserve Collection contains medieval and early modern age archaeological finds collected before the Second World War and not assigned to other collections. By and large, these finds constitute three separate groups which have been handled off and on under the names Medieval Iron Collection, Medieval Ceramics Collection, and Medieval Miscellaneous Collection. The first group consists primarily of agricultural and other implements and tools made of iron. (Many pieces from this collection were damaged during the Second World War and became unidentifiable; these were transferred to the Late Medieval Collection and were re-inventoried.) Vessels, stove tiles, floor bricks, and so on belong to the Ceramics Collection. The Medieval Miscellaneous Collection consists mainly of artefacts found in burials in cemeteries around medieval churches, e.g. Arpadian-era hair rings with S-shaped ends; Gothic, Renaissance mountings for attire, 14th–15th-century embossed belts mountings, buckles.

TONGS FOR MAKING COMMUNION WAFERS

We have data on such tongs from the 12th century already: this simpler pair was found among the artefacts of a village house burned down during the Tatar invasion of 1241–42. From the 16th to 17th century on, they feature in inventories that list the equipment of churches, but also occur among artefacts belonging to town guilds and households.

COAT OF ARMS ON TONGS FOR MAKING COMMUNION WAFERS

The tongs are made from wrought iron and bear the date 1565. They bear on their inner surfaces an engraved design: a coat of arms with plant ornamentation around it, a fruit tree, and a circular inscription. This appeared in positive relief on the surface of the wafer.

HAIR RING WITH S-SHAPED ENDS, FROM BIHARUDVARI

On the basis of archaeological researches, hair rings with S-shaped ends were worn in the hair on strips of leather or textile to which they had been sewn. These rings are frequent finds in churchyards around Arpadian-era churches (e.g. Gellértegyháza, Pusztaszentlászló, Orosháza). It is characteristic of early, 10th–11th-century hair rings that they are made of bronze, silver, electrum, or gold, depending on the material circumstances of the wearer. They are usually fashioned from thick metal wire and have broad S-shaped ends. Examples made from lead are also known. Making their appearance from the second half of the 11th century, so-called ribbed hair rings with S-shaped ends were in use up to the 13th century. Examples of this type are known from hoards hidden at the time of the Tatar invasion of 1241–42.

RED-PAINTED JUG, FROM PILINY

Made using a hand-turned potter’s wheel, this handled, broad-brimmed jug from Piliny is the only known instance of its type. Datable to the turn of the 14th century, the vessel was made from clay that was white after firing. It is one of the earliest red-painted pieces in the collection. On its base can be seen a stamp depicting a cross placed in a circle.

VIENNA COOKING POT, FROM MOHÁCS

This piece was found during an excavation at Mohács-Cselepatak in 1949, in a storage pit uncovered next to a 15th-century house. Of grey, graphite-bearing fabric and featuring a brim that resembles a turned-down collar, this type of vessel is called a Vienna cooking pot by researchers. On the brim of most of them is a stamp indicating the place where they were made (e.g. Tulln). Since this type is widespread along the Danube and occurs in large quantities, it is likely that the clay, too, was imported and not just the finished products, and that the techniques required to make these pots were adopted by potters locally.

STOVE TILE DEPICTING ST. PETER, FROM BESZTERCEBÁNYA

Located in Besztercebánya (today Banská Bystrica, Slovakia), the so-called Bothár workshop made good-quality glazed tiles depicting figures (saints first and foremost) in the late 15th century. In the material discovered in the workshop were tiles which were unfinished or spoiled. Six such tiles have passed to the Hungarian National Museum. The piece shown in the picture depicts St. Peter with a halo; he is holding the key to Heaven.

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Middle Ages Reserve Collection

Middle Ages Reserve Collection

Department of Archaeology

TONGS FOR MAKING COMMUNION WAFERS

COAT OF ARMS ON TONGS FOR MAKING COMMUNION WAFERS

HAIR RING WITH S-SHAPED ENDS, FROM BIHARUDVARI

RED-PAINTED JUG, FROM PILINY

VIENNA COOKING POT, FROM MOHÁCS

STOVE TILE DEPICTING ST. PETER, FROM BESZTERCEBÁNYA

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