Hungarian Miska Jug by Szabo Karcag

c1970

handmade by Szabo Karcag (1944-2009), Hungary

30*15*15 (cm)

A ceramic Miska jug by Szabo Karcag. This Hungarian figural piece features a green glazed spout and a white face and body with black, red and green floral design. The piece is incised to the underside ‘Szabo Karcag’, made in hungary.

The Miska jug is a wine vessel in the shape of a stylised human figure wearing the braided jacket of a Hungarian hussar. The jugs often have a writhing snake on the belly or the handle, a symbol of long life, suggesting eternal life.

The Miska jug was created by potters on the Great Plain: the first known piece is dated 1824 and was made in Hódmezővásárhely. The Miska jug was a wine vessel for festive occasions; there is also a record of its use at Easter and weddings.

In Mezőcsát the Miska jug was called pintes (pint pot), a name that is used on almost all inscriptions from 1838. The name most often used in Tiszafüred was miska (Mike, the familiar form of Mihály/Michael). It occurs on a number of pieces as "Wine Miska", "Drunkard Miska", "Thirsty Miska", "Drink Wine Miska", or simply as "Miska".

Anthropomorphic vessels have been made in many places in the world, but in different forms. In Western Europe mainly in the 16th century the Bartmann jugs were famous. These stoneware vessels made along the Rhine also reached England where vessels portraying the face of a bearded man became known as Bellarmine jugs. This type of jug underwent change in England, becoming popular in the second half of the 18th century as the Toby jug. The English Toby jug is a drinking vessel portraying an elderly men in naturalistic but slightly caricatured form, in 18th century dress with a tricorn hat, and a jug in his hand. It is difficult to compare them to Miska jugs that portray a hussar in a simple, stylised manner.

The glorious campaign by András Hadik's hussars against the Prussians in 1757 when they even held Berlin to ransom, also played a part in the spread and popularity of the Miska jug. It was not by chance that the hussar as a concept was identified with the Hungarian character, courage and Hungarian bravado and portrayed as a figure with a moustache, shako and hussar's uniform.

Besides the braided hussar's jacket, the jugs also often have a snake, a creature that was popularly believed to live forever. Already in the ancient world the sight of snakes shedding their skins led to the belief that the snake was capable of rebirth and eternal life, and so they tried to win its favour. The snake as a symbol thus survived from pre-Christian times and it is not by chance that it appears on countless wine vessels. Village people used to say that a person lives as long as others are speaking about him; the Miska jug wanted to keep memory alive.

According to the present state of knowledge, around 150 Miska jugs are preserved in various collections, dating from the 1820s to 1940. The Museum of Ethnography of Néprajzi Múzeum, Budapest, Hungary has the best collection of this object type.

匈牙利传统 Miska 陶瓷醒酒器

约1970年

艺术家：Szabo Karcag (1944-2009)，匈牙利

30*15*15 厘米

Szabo Karcag 设计的陶瓷 Miska 水壶。 这件匈牙利雕像的特点是绿色釉面喷嘴、白色的脸和身体以及黑色、红色和绿色的花卉图案。 这件作品的底部刻有“Szabo Karcag”字样，产于匈牙利。

米斯卡酒壶是一种风格化的人物形状的酒器，穿着匈牙利骠骑兵的编织夹克。 壶腹或壶柄上常有一条扭动的蛇，象征长寿，寓意永生。

米斯卡壶是由大平原的陶艺家制作的：已知的第一件作品可追溯至 1824 年，产于霍德梅泽瓦沙海伊 (Hódmezővásárhely)。 米斯卡壶是节日场合用的酒器。 还有在复活节和婚礼上使用它的记录。

在 Mezőcsát，Miska 壶被称为 pintes（品脱壶），这个名称几乎用于 1838 年以来的所有铭文。Tiszafüred 最常用的名称是 Miska（Mike，Mihály/Michael 的熟悉形式）。 它出现在许多作品中，如“Wine Miska”、“Drunkard Miska”、“Thirsty Miska”、“Drink Wine Miska”或简称为“Miska”。

世界上许多地方都制造了拟人化的容器，但形式各异。 在西欧，主要是在 16 世纪，巴特曼水壶就很出名。 这些沿着莱茵河制造的粗陶器皿也到达了英格兰，在那里描绘胡须男子脸的器皿被称为贝拉明壶。 这种类型的壶在英国经历了变革，在 18 世纪下半叶以托比壶的形式流行起来。 英国托比壶是一种饮酒器，描绘了一位老人，其自然主义但略带讽刺的形式，穿着 18 世纪的服装，戴着三角帽，手里拿着一个壶。 很难将它们与以简单、程式化的方式描绘轻骑兵的米斯卡壶进行比较。

1757 年，安德拉斯·哈迪克 (András Hadik) 骠骑兵在对抗普鲁士人的光荣战役中甚至勒索了柏林，这也对米斯卡壶的传播和流行起了一定作用。 骠骑兵作为一个概念与匈牙利人的性格、勇气和虚张声势联系在一起，并被描绘成一个留着小胡子、戴着帽子、穿着骠骑兵制服的人物，这并非偶然。

除了骠骑兵的辫子夹克外，罐子上还经常有一条蛇，人们普遍认为这种生物可以永生。 在古代世界，蛇蜕皮的景象就已经让人们相信蛇能够重生和永生，因此他们试图赢得蛇的青睐。 因此，蛇作为一种象征从前基督教时代就一直存在，它出现在无数酒器上并非偶然。 村里人常说，一个人只要别人谈论他，他就活着。 米斯卡壶想要让记忆永存。

根据目前的了解，大约 150 个 Miska 壶被保存在各种收藏中，匈牙利布达佩斯 Néprajzi Múzeum 民族志博物馆拥有此类物品的一些收藏。