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Summary

The stormy and often war-torn history of Hungary has paradoxically been the background for a flourishing industry of gold- and silversmiths’ work. Throughout the long Turkish occupation, for example, there were Hungarian masters working in the towns of Transylvania and the northern region, making the most exquisite masterpieces for the aristocracy, for the bourgeoisie, and also for the Transylvanian princes. Hungarian silver is unfortunately little known outside Hungary, but the outstanding collection of pieces acquired in the West over the last three decades by Nicolas Salgo and spanning more than four centuries of the goldsmith’s craft provides a highly representative survey of the remarkable work of Hungarian craftsmen.

More than one hundred and twenty works have been brought together and illustrated in this book; makers’ marks are identified whenever possible and reproduced alongside the pieces on which they appear. Provenance and literature are also given. An outline history of Hungary, followed by a brief survey of the goldsmith's craft and of the guild system, set the pieces in their historical context, while notes on the goldsmiths represented in the collection and an appendix of makers’ and town marks complete this invaluable introduction to the Hungarian goldsmith’s craft known so inadequately in the West.

Cross-references to Köszeghy’s1936 catalogue of Hungarian goldsmiths’ marks are made whenever applicable.