Halas Lace / Halasi Csipke / Halaser Spitze (Trilingual Edition: English & Hungarian & German)

Scarce oversized hardcover, limited edition of 1000 copies, trilingual, 247 pages, copiously illustrated with b&w photos and drawings (colour images on pages 50-67), glossy paper, pictorial endpapers, NOT ex-library. Weight: 1110g. A gentle crease in the lower inner corner of pages, book is clean and bright with unmarked text, free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. Shelfworn dust jacket (with numerous faint marks and scratches), frayed upper spine edge, mild creasing. -- Hungarian lace and lace tradition since the early 1900s. A historical introduction is followed by an illustrated, chronological catalogue of 490 specimens stating the designer, year, material, size, etc. -- This monograph is the authoritative artistic and historical guide to Halas lace, a unique and highly prized form of needle lace originating from Kiskunhalas, Hungary. The book meticulously chronicles the craft's development at the turn of the 20th century, detailing the collaboration between designer Árpád Dékáni and the master lacemaker Mária Markovits. It extensively documents the characteristic motifs of the style, which are deeply rooted in the Hungarian Secession (Art Nouveau) movement and draw inspiration from local folk art, flora, and fauna. The work provides a detailed visual record of the lace's singular technique - a process of hand-sewing with exceptionally fine thread to create complex, non-repeating designs. Through numerous photographs of both historical masterpieces and contemporary works, the volume serves as a definitive reference for identification and a celebration of a craft recognized as a Hungaricum, a national treasure of Hungary. -- Preface by Zoltan Toth: "You have opened a book which will present to you the most valuable needle lace in the world. Although this lace has the appearance of a Baroque and Secession masterpiece of applied art, it is, however, a romantic dream which is irrefutably Hungarian. This is not folk art. I would rather say that it is akin to the music of Bela Bartok which is a part of the 20th century's universal musical poetry in such a way that the strings and percussion speak in the composer's mother tongue. Halas lace has been through many storms and hardships during its history of almost 100 years. It has survived the passing of countless fashion trends and resisted the experiments of modernization, re-emerging from every trial in its original splendour. This is proved not only by the Grand Prix awards of the St. Louis, Paris, Berlin, Milan and Brussels World Fairs and the first prizes gained from a number of foreign exhibitions, but also by the fact that Halas lace has become a special gift of protocol for those in the highest circles. This is how Alice Roosevelt, the American president's daughter; the Dutch Queen, Julianne; King Charles IV and Queen Zita; the Hungarian regent, Miklos Horthy and Pope John Paul II have all come to have owned Halas lace. An impressive collection has also been bought by British aristocrats and the United States Senate. It has appeared as an exclusive souvenir in the windows of Europe's top hotels and jeweller's. In modern times this needle-lace has been rediscovered by international public taste and remarkable attention is devoted to this noble artistic treasure. Halas lace, made with the world's finest flax thread, can attribute its world fame not only to its ethereal appearance, its inimitably rich and brilliant stitching technique, and its authentic design, but also to the fact that, among the truly worthy laces, it is perhaps the only one which has not yet succumbed to the industrial age. Every square millimetre is produced entirely by hand. Halas lace deserves its honorable title and it deserves the payment of our homage as it is, truly, the Queen of Laces.".…