Costumes from Ukraine in the collection of the Museum of Ethnography in Budapest
Compared to the fact that Ukraine and Hungary are neighbors, the Museum keeps very few materials from Ukraine in the collections. Unfortunately, it only preserves material from that area of Ukraine (Subcarpathia, Bukovina), which was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy – and mainly the historical Kingdom of Hungary. Most of the material collected comes from the Ruthenian minority, but the Museum also has a small amount of clothing material of Hungarian nationality and textiles from the Hungarian Jewish community.
The Ethnographic Museum – as the Ethnographic Department of the Hungarian National Museum – was founded in 1872. Until 1914, the increases were very strongly linked to large exhibitions, and the presentation of the material played a very important role to convey the multi-ethnic character of the country, the many ethnic groups. Basically, it concentrated on materials from around Hust (Huszt;Хуст) and Mukachevo (Munkács; Мукачево) even in the case of the first large collection, the Nationale Hausindustrie collection sent to the World Exhibition in Vienna.The presentation of the Ruthenian-Hucul ethnic group living mainly in the Verhovina valley (Verhovina region / Верховина; Внутрішні Ґорґани) played an important role in the materials of the 1889 National Infant Rearing Exhibition, and in the Ruthenian house set up in the ethnographic village of the 1896 Millennium Exhibition, puppets dressed in costumes were also featured. The wide leather belt is an important accessory of clothes made of handwoven linen and wool – embroidered long shirts and trousers and bags. In the 1970s and 1980s, through the mediation of a Budapest dealer, the collection included beautiful, embroidered women shirts, aprons – and a wonderful bridal headdress decorated with coins.Fieldwork was only possible after long-time during perestroika. At that time, our former colleague collected the pieces of the mortuary clothing in Mukachevos among the Jewish community, in which the ritually washed body is dressed before burial.
Mónika Lackner
Curator of Collection of Textiles and Costumes, Museum of Ethnograpy / Néprajzi Múzeum, Budapest
CAPTIONS:
Photos made by Krisztina Sarnyai
Young woman’s bonnet, Hust (Huszt), Хуст, about 1860-70. Collected by Florian Rómer, archeologist of the Hungarian National Museum, along with other Ruthenian etnographical objects from Hust, Mukachevo and Verhovina region for the Vienna World’s Fair 1873. Néprajzi Múzeum / Museum of Ethnography, Budapest; Inv. Nr. 15531.
Items of clothing belonging to a 5 year old Hutsul boy, Verhovina region / Верховина; Внутрішні Ґорґани, 1889. Collected for the ethnographical section of The National Infant Rearing Exhibition in Budapest in 1889. Néprajzi Múzeum / Museum of Ethnography, Budapest; Inv. Nr. 2736-2738; 2742-2743.
Young Hungarian man’s festive apron, Velika Dobrony (Nagydobrony), Велика Добронь, about 1900-1915. Colleted by Oszkár Dincsér etnomusicologist in 1940. Néprajzi Múzeum / Museum of Ethnography, Budapest; Inv. Nr. 136914.
Brides headdress, Hust region (Huszt), Хуст, about 1940-1960. Decorated with Romanian and Hungarian coins between 1870-1930, and a postcard. Néprajzi Múzeum / Museum of Ethnography, Budapest; Inv. Nr. 58.1.6.
Woman’s long shirt and apron, Sokirnitsa (Szeklence ) / Сокирниця , about 1930-1939. The long shirt is decorated with embroidery. It is a shirt of a breastfeeding mother – with two vertical slits. Néprajzi Múzeum / Museum of Ethnography, Budapest; Inv. Nr. 74.119.1-74.119.2.
Graveclothes of a man, tahrihim, Mukachevo (Munkács), Мукачево, 1998. The graveclothes for the Orthodox Jewish man were comissioned by Miklós Rékai for the Museum of Etnography and sewn by the wife of Ávrum Snájder, who also worked for the local Chevra Kadisha, funeral and relief association. Néprajzi Múzeum / Museum of Ethnography, Budapest; Inv. Nr. 2002.68.1-2002.68.8.
