”INSIDE OUT – OUTSIDE IN…”

the motif treasure of Hajdúság

Message from the Past

This part of our Permanent Exhibition aims at presenting the characteristic street scene of Hajdúság, where promenading was an event of great importance, groups of people gathered by the garden door, and benches in front of the house were the centre of interest, often mocked as ”gossip-benches”. Taking a look at the porch, we can picture what it could have meant to ”put one’s frieze mantle outside”. The characteristics of middle class houses, the diversity of artefacts and furnishings display the motif treasure of Hajdúság.

TRADITIONAL STREET SCENE

Cobblestone roads, spiry middle class houses, ornamented lampposts, timber fences and dispersed benches compose this unique and nearly vanished street image.

”TIMBER GATE, BIG DOG, GOOD FARMERT”

TIMBER FENCE

Residents of Hajdú Towns devoted much time to the appearance of their houses and the surroundings. The design and ornamentation of timber fences and gates appealed to the passers-by. The most outstanding ones appeared in the first part of the 20th century, these gates were larger in size and featured trelliswork or sawed patterns. In the line of the fence, we can often find corn cribs richly decorated with sawed patterns.

GARDEN ENTRANCE DOOR

Hardwood (acacia) posts supported the pine-wood panelled doors, which were always opening in and operated with rim locks. They were decorated with strap hinges and corner brackets. Weather-worn posts needed occasional maintenance. The door was topped with a lintel covered with a coffin-shaped hood moulding to throw off rainwater. Wooden parts were tarred. The main ornament, the pull knob was placed in the middle of the door. Visitors signalled their arrival with the help of a bell pull, which was connected with a steel wire.

hood

panel

entrance door

pull knob

middle ledge

jamb

sill

Garden door from the street

lintel

hinge

strap hinge

battens

jamb

brace

Garden door from the inside

HOUSE

The architectural image of Hajdú Towns reflects features of the houses of the nobility together with elements from the rural middle class and the traditional peasant lifestyle. The particularity of traditional dwellings was the well-built thatched slant, hip roof with the triangle shaped gable. The plane of the facade was separated from the gable by a moulding. Street-facing windows are also furnished with hood moulding and the planes are dispersed with ornamental details.

PAINTED WALL-MOUNTED SHELVES WITH RACKS

The demand for painted furniture had increased in the middle of the 19th century. Pieces of furniture manufactured in carpenters’ workshops in Hajdúböszörmény accompanied our ancestors’ lives from the birth through the wedding up until the death. These small-sized wall shelves and cabinets with floral patterns on brown or white background are the most remarkable artefacts of folk painting. Floral motifs are presented in a well-proportioned structure, the frames and door panels were finished with sewed or carved technique.

„FUR COATS HAVE NO COLLARS”

FRIEZE MANTLE, SMALL AND FULL FUR COATS OF BÖSZÖRMÉNY

Broadcloth, the fabric used for frieze mantles, were manufactured by fullers. Cloth appliqués, tacked patterns, straps stitched with silk yarns were used for decoration. It was rarely worn with the sleeves, but thrown over the shoulder.

Small fur coats, on the other hand, were prepared from sheepskin by furriers. Women’s coats were embellished with single-coloured embroidery. The cut was composed of two front pieces, two side pieces and a back piece. Its shape forms a skirt, the shoulders are dropped and hidden under a breast-length cape collar. Furrier’s trimmings came in various patterns: four, six, large-small, full roses and leaves arranged in rosemary motif. The embroidery was made up of flat and stem stitches, for which furriers of Böszörmény used black silk yarns.

The embroidered trimming of men’s full coats were not as detailed as the small coats, but the structure of the patterns shows many similarities. The bottom was trimmed with 20-26 cm wide fur turn-up, which was tied up with leather straps in order to protect it from mud and water. This type of garment was named Hajdúsági strapped fur coat.

WORKED CITED

Biri, Gábor : Kerítésdíszek Hajdúböszörményben

(In: Múzeumi Kurír II. kötet 1. szám, 1973. október)

Dám, László : Építészet

Deli, Edit : A lakások berendezése

Szatmári, Ibolya : Szőttesek, vászon-, szűr- és szűcshímzések

(In: Népművészeti örökségünk – Hajdú – Bihar megye népművészete, Európa Könyvkiadó, Bp., 1989)

Magyar néprajzi lexikon IV. kötet

(Akadémia Kiadó, Bp., 1981)

Papp, Zsolt : Hajdúböszörményi kapuk és kerítések

(HMNA.00962)

Hajdúsági Múzeum

Hajdúsági Múzeum

”INSIDE OUT – OUTSIDE IN…”