A gyűjtemény leírása
This collection comprises more than 8500 pieces on two major themes: (1.) tools related to the traditional animal husbandry practices of the peoples of the Carpathian Basin (including the Hungarians) and (2.) objects of art created by shepherds for use in their everyday lives, for special occasions, or for decorative purposes.
Though the artistic value of shepherd craftsmanship is well-known, the first individual to accord it true scientific value was Ottó Herman in 1892. The museum's collection was begun in 1885, at which time it grew only slowly. Its contributors included professionals like János Xántus, Ottó Herman, Zsigmond Bátky, István Györffy, Károly Viski, and László Madarassy, as well as a number of enthusiastic amateurs. Xántus began by collecting objects from his own native village of Csokonya in Somogy County. A total of 89 objects were added to the collection in 1897, to be followed by a sizeable donation from the Museum of Applied Arts in 1898. Herman's contribution to the collection includes numerous objects acquired for display at the Hungarian state millennial celebrations, significant in terms of both quantity and quality. Herman's chosen theme was that of "Ősfoglalkozások," a term he coined himself meaning literally "ancient occupations," whose history at the time he believed to be nearing a regrettable and untimely end. Following the fervor of the late 19th century, efforts to obtain new material subsided, though the number of pieces donated or sold to the museum by private collectors grew (such as the collection of the pharmacist, Sándor Farkas), and the overall quality of new items improved.
Due to both practical difficulties and a lack of finances, work on the collection was interrupted during World War I, to be continued again only in 1921. Between 1930 and World War II, the collection was influenced primarily by the work of László Madarassy. In 1936 alone, for example, Madarassy contributed an impressive total of 417 pieces to the museum's inventory. Other collectors working in the 1930's included Károly Viski, who brought in objects from the town of Szalonta, and István Györffy whose work centred on the counties of Szatmár and Bereg. Starting in 1942, a number of pieces, primarily works of art created by herdsmen, were contributed by János Manga, another of the museum's definitive collectors. During the 1940's many new museum employees began collecting, as well. The museum's veterinary medicine collection, created between 1952 and 1955 by Géza Csernák, forms a separate unit within the overall collection. It was in the 1960's that the museum first embarked on organised fieldwork, aimed at expanding the collection in a planned fashion. It was at this time that artefacts related to stabled animals, a subject previously treated with somewhat less enthusiasm, were obtained in significant numbers. At the beginning of the 1960's literally hundreds of items at a time were added to the collection, and the museum began publishing reports on its work in the field. Outstanding contributors during this period include Tamás Hofer and László Földes, the latter of whom is also remembered for his scientific work. The collection gained much during the late 1960's and mid-1970's when the storerooms were organised and numerous uncatalogued items inventoried. During the final two decades of the 20th century, the collection chiefly acquired new pieces of herdsmen's art, some brought in by field workers and others purchased.
Publication on pieces belonging to the collection has progressed continuously since the end of the 19th century. Sections on herdsmen's art have been included in publications dealing with the topic of folk art as a whole, as well as in the many individual research projects done chiefly during the 1930's, and later in the 1970's and 80's. Professional literature on animal husbandry also tends to rely on or make reference to the collection of the Museum of Ethnography. Artefacts related to animal husbandry and shepherding are exhibited regularly, though separate exhibitions on these subjects have been few and diminutive in scope during the final decades of the 20th century.
Unfortunately, collecting and recording has not always been geographically evenly distributed which has lead to there being some gaps in the collection which may never be filled.
One-third of objects in the collection are decorative Spanish inlay artefacts from the Transdanubian Region of Hungary (Dunántúl), while another quarter originate from the area of the Great Hungarian Plain (Alföld). Pieces made of wood with metal inlay typically come from the region of Northern Hungary, with wooden milk containers from the ethnic Hungarian areas of Slovakia forming a separate unit. Objects from various areas in Transylvania were added to the collection in the early stages of its formation. In terms of the future, the aims of the museum include not only the continuation of fieldwork and collection efforts, but also extensive publication, including the requisite analysis and processing of existing material.
The curator of the collection is Dr. Magdolna Szabó.