The nearly 10,000 artefacts of the Modern Textile Collection's – articles of clothing, home and "political" textiles, flags – reflect the diverse material world of modern society. Handicrafts and manufactured goods, unique pieces and serial products are all part of the collection. Personal belongings of important historical figures of the period – such as Queen Elizabeth's gloves, memorabilis of Miklós Horthy, János Kádár and József Antall – are particularly precious. Flags, scarves and armbands, as well as uniforms representing various societies, associations and movements of the 20th century are important sources for social history research and essential items for historical exhibitions. Nameless objects of everyday life are the fastest-growing and also remarkable part of the collection.
The most interesting items in the collection are on display in the permanent historical exhibition, including the national scout flag designed by Sándor Nagy, the uniform of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, the Hungarian-style ceremonial dress designed by Klára Tüdős, the men's and women's prison uniforms from Auschwitz and Imre Nagy's prison housecoat.
The outstanding acquisition of the past years is the result of the community collection of the Hungarian Bride Project, which has added to the online repository of countless photos, wedding memories and family stories, such valuable items as the wedding skirt of Countess Ilona Gyulai Edelsheim and the creations of Klára Rotschild.
Contact Edina Szólás-Schön, szolas.schon.edina@hnm.hu Tel.
The silk-bourette day dress was designed by Klára Rotschild in the early 1970s. The interesting orange–white–navy blue colour combination is reminiscent of one of Mary Quant's dress designs from 1969 (courtesy of Dr Zsuzsanna Péchy)
The ladies of the Dessewffy-Kubinyi family may have been wearing this cermonial Hungarian costume consisting of a "mente" (cloak), a bodice, a skirt, and an apron on festive occasions (a gift from Árpád Dessewffy de Csernek et Tarkeö)
Skirt of Hungarian fashion wedding gown worn by Ilona Mária Andrea Gabriella Mária Gyulai Edelsheim on the day of her marriage to István Horthy, 27 April 1940, in Budapest, in the Reformed Church of Szilágyi Dezső tér. The bridal gown was designed by Klára Rotschild (Budapest Deák tér 3), inspired by the Hungarian ceremonial dress of Countess Ilona's grandmother. Following the wedding photos Kinga Földi textile artist, made a paper reconstruction of the bodice for Ilona Gyulai Edelsheim's wedding skirt, in 2024 (a gift of István Horthy Sharif)
A black glove, a small comb, a rose branch and a handwritten testimony attached to the glove are enclosed under a glass cover, in a simple black wooden frame decorated with a gilded imperial crown. The handwritten German testimony states that the issuer, Berzeviczy, affixed his seal and signed it in his own hand to testify that Her Majesty Empress Elisabeth was wearing this glove at the time of her assassination on 10 September 1898. If we carry on reading the document, written in Vienna on 1 October 1898, it turns out that the glove was removed by the author himself and kept as a memento.
From the mid-19th to the mid-20th century – or even until the last third of the 20th century in Szék – there are memorial ensembles of the brides' headdresses (wreath, veil) and the grooms' bouttonieres arranged in simple wall cupboards or in carpentry masterpieces. The domestic altar-like keepsakes were placed on the walls of representative rooms in the home, mostly in the hall or living room in the city, and in the best room in the village. A gift from Peter Krémer (the grandson).
