Juraj Zajonc
State authorities in Hungary in the late 19th century encouraged the development of lace-making and related educational and commercial activities. A lace-making school was established in 1884. The town of Kremnica housed the school since 1889. The Hungarian Royal Lace-making School of Kremnica was established to encourage better quality of lace produced in Hungary and create jobs for residents of mining regions, thus, improving their lives. The school´s dominant activity concentrated around lace-making workshops, initially operating in a travelling (wandering) form. Later, new workshops were established in surrounding regions. Majority of workshops remained in operation, with several breaks, after 1918.
The school in Kremnica educated lace-makers, gave them jobs after they had graduated, educated senior managers, etc. The graduates of the Arts and Crafts School in Budapest headed the workshops. Laces of foreign and original patterns were produced in the school. Vojtech Angyal produced original lace designs, was in charge of artistic expression of laces and worked as an artistic advisor. His laces combined Secession inspirations and traditions of the Upper Hungary.
Vojtech Angyal (1874 – 1928) graduated from the historical painting department at the Academy of Visual Arts in Vienna. He came to work in Kremnica in 1873. Angyal produced designs for bobbin lace as well as decorations for ceramic products of a nearby earthenware factory.
His designs and related laces borrow from various general motives, such as geometry, plants, animals, anthropomorphism, symbols and objects.
The designs and laces combine cultural trends and social inspirations of the period around 1900. Angyal´s laces borrowed from historical templates, folk and historical laces from the regions of today´s Slovakia and other European countries.
The laces from the Lace-making School of Kremnica as well as Angyal´s designs were presented at exhibitions and were given several awards (the 1900 World Fair in Paris, Milan 1906, London 1906, Budapest, Segedin, Prešov, Bratislava, Turín).
Angyal´s lace designs won recognition among the Secession laces in Europe and are part of the history of bobbin lace in Slovakia. Angyal was a recognized designer of bobbin laces in Slovakia and is acknowledged as a predecessor of E. Marková, A. Drobová, E. Holéczyová and others.