When Spain dictated fashion: A Hungarian lady's richly decorated garments, c. 1600

Abstract

The rescue of the remains of a set of female garments from the end of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth century, discovered during an excavation in the Benedictine Church of Our Lady in Sopron, Hungary, is described. The pieces of clothing are made from fabrics woven and decorated with fine metal threads and tailored in the Spanish and Hungarian fashion. They are of particular importance because no clothes from that age and in that style, worn only by the aristocracy, had previously been found in Hungary and their use had only been documented by pictorial representations and inventories. Conservation work on the poorly conserved fabrics and their ornaments was preceded by comprehensive examination of the finds aimed at identifying the materials and techniques used in their manufacture. The preliminary study indicated the working processes and aided in the choice of appropriate materials and techniques for their conservation.

Keywords:

• Hungarian costume
• Spanish fashion c. 1600
• Archaeological textile
• Burial clothes
• Metal thread
• Conservation of fragile textiles

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Gabriella Gabrieli, archaeologist, Soproni Museum, and leader of the excavation, for permission to publish the object; Mária Újvári, Tragor Ignác Museum, and Emil Ráduly, Museum of Ethnography, who unearthed the coffin, for providing documentation; Márta Kissné Bendefy, Hungarian National Museum (HNM), for advice; Eszter Bakonyi, HNM, for the technical analysis of rosettes; Enikő Sipos, HNM, and András Koleszár, Óbuda University, for drawing patterns; Ádám Németh for creating the reconstruction drawing; Gábor Nyíri, HNM, for photography; Dr Márta Járó, HNM, and Dr Attila Tóth, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, RITPMS, for analysis; and Dr Judit Zala, mycologist, National Centre for Epidemiology, Hungary.

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