Bath Cup
The glass exhibition of the Ferenc Nádasdy Museum features nicely shaped bathing cups. The glass object exhibited here was made around 1870 in the Czech Republic, we can see the Czech town of Sankt Joachimstal depicted with enamel paint on opal glass with thin golden stripes on its rim.
The story on the homepage of the spa says that miners of the town famous for mining ore, found 1864 a well. In the following years they swam the lake several times not knowing how beneficial this little exercise was for them. Cures to the public were made available 1906 first in form of private enterprises. Then the state took over. In the beginnings those interested could enjoy the impacts of medicinal water in tubs. The first spa building was opened 1911, where the water was transported from the source via several kilometres of piping. In the next year the first hotel was built and it provided in the beginnings only richer people the opportunity of cures. New buildings and pensions erected secured that in the 1930ies the spa town had nine thousand visitors a year.
The medicinal water with a Radium content is ideal for decreasing inflammations, improving the metabolism and easing pain. In the course of the treatment drinking cures were applied. Apart from serving practical purposes the cup was also a memory. Just like guests of modern spa towns bring home fried magnets, in older times bath cups fulfilled the hard task of ton marketing.
Thus it is important to preserve and present such objects in our collections. (tzb)
Literature
Melegati, Luca: Az üveg. Budapest, 1995. (Műkincshatározó)
Inventory card, Ferenc Nádasdy Museum (the inventory was made by Klára Marik Tasnádi, the inventory number is: NFM Iparműv.Gy. 92.13.1)