Kerchief - from the Reformed Church of Szendrő

Symmetrical clusters of flowers, springing from a heart, are placed diagonally in each corner. The central stem ends in a large blossom of dropping petals the scrolled stems around it bear pomegranates. The sides are decorated with smaller clusters of flowers. The variants of this Renaissance pattern were still present in mid-17th century Europe, as is apparent from contemporary pattern books. However, the drawing and colouring of the flowers are different from the Western models. The Hungarian ones have a pattern with richer decoration the Turkish-style alternation of the colours red, blue, green or metal gives the embroidery an especially effective decoration.

This kerchief comes from Borsod county it has a companion piece, an altar-cloth of Szőny in the collection of the Calvinist Church at Pápa. The patterns and colours of the latter are identical with those of the shawl, which proves that a popular pattern would spread all over the country.