Photograph

The photograph shows Marguerite, the wife of Edgar Papasian. She is standing in front of a big harp, playing it with her right hand. She is wearing an elegant evening dress, which accentuates her relatively corpulent figure. The dress seems to have an underskirt that extends down onto the floor. The highlight of this garment is its lavishly decorated upper part: it has a V-shaped neckline with a wide open décolleté, and long, narrow sleeves ending with frills; the upper arm is covered with another layer of fabric with elaborate designs, series of buttons and pleats. This decoration extends also on the chest and the back. Her rich hair is caught up to form an impressive coiffure.

The photograph shows Nevart Utidjian (1895-1976) standing in front of a train. She is wearing a floor-length skirt with many folds, made from a dark, heavy looking material. She is also wearing a white, long-sleeved blouse with puffed sleeves and a high collar. Encircling her waist is a wide belt, and on her head an impressive large-brimmed and richly decorated hat. Her hair is worn high on top. In her right hand she is holding a light parasol and in the left several papers and a leather bag. The whole appearance is typical of the fashion of the 1930s.

This photograph shows Nevart Utidjian (1895-1976). Her outfit is made from a bright white, patterned fabric. The skirt is simple and ankle-length, while the top part is more elaborate with a high neckline and long sleeves. She is also wearing dark tights and black shoes with low heels, as well as a brooch and a thin headband. Nevart is sitting in front of an open piano with her right arm resting on it. The furniture (Viennese chairs, carpets) and interior decoration indicate that the house belonged to an intellectual, rich urban family.

The photograph shows 11 persons, members of the extended Papasian family, standing in front of the door and the open window of a neoclassical house. The three men in the background are all wearing western-style suits, white shirts and a tie. The young women standing in front of them are wearing bright, light coloured dresses with ankle-length, wide flaring skirts and elaborate blouses with collars and elbow-length sleeves. Two of them are also wearing dark-coloured cravats extending over the chest. Although the way both men and women pose indicates that there are three couples on the right side, with two more young women standing on the left, the “couple” to the right of the photo are John Papasian and his daughter, Victoria, with the wife and mother Bertha sitting in front of them. What is of much interest in this photograph is the difference in colour palette between the women standing at the back and those sitting in the front. The three older ladies sitting in the front are all wearing dark-coloured dresses of different style, with longer, floor-length skirts, as it was appropriate for their age. The two of them seem to be wearing black elegant dresses with long sleeves, while the dress of the younger woman on the right side is lighter in colour and has a partly white elaborate top and elbow-length sleeves.

Photograph of the sisters Victoria and Elsie Papasian. Victoria (on the left) would later on move from Egypt to Cyprus to marry Hrant Utidjian. She is wearing a long dress with elbow length sleeves, which are decorated at the edges with intricate embroidery of successive triangular patterns. The dress is made of a dark, probably black cloth, with the exception of the high neckline, which is made of a different, white material and has a frilled top. Elsie is wearing a similar dress to Victoria’s, however the neckline is rounded off and decorated with embroidery, which is the same with that on Victoria’s sleeves. In Elsie’s dress the decoration of the neckline continues on the left side of the chest, where it is enriched with a voluminous white applique. The same embroidered patterns can also be seen around the edges of her sleeves. Elsie is also wearing an impressive necklace around her exposed neck, and a small brooch on the chest. Victoria has long hair falling on her shoulder, while Elsie’s hair is caught up. Despite similarities, the whole appearance and the hairstyle underline the different age of the two sisters.

Family photograph of an unknown Armenian family in Cyprus. The father and the oldest son are both wearing western-style suits with white shirts. The father is wearing a tie and a dark vest, whereas his son is wearing a bow tie and has a handkerchief in the pocket of his suit. The wife on the right is wearing a floor-length long-sleeved dress with drop waist. The dress is made of rather light-coloured material and seems to consist of different layers of fabric, as it is partly covered by black, patterned (embroidered?) tulle, on top of which there is a waist long extra layer of fabric that is gathered at the waist. This modern dress is combined with closed shoes and a short hairstyle. The daughter at the centre has long hair, which are decorated with a bow and fall on the chest in the form of plaits. Her outfit is mostly covered by her sibling standing in front of her; however, one can see that she is wearing a short cape over her shoulders. The youngest child in front is wearing a short, pleated white skirt and a darker shirt with short sleeves, also white socks and black shoes with one strap.

The photograph was taken outdoors and shows five people sitting on rocks, in a mountainous, rocky landscape with big trees. Most probably the group has been photographed during an excursion. The woman on the left (Verkine Djevarhirdjian-Utidjian) is wearing a white, long-sleeved blouse and an ankle-length skirt. She is also wearing a dark-coloured brimmed hat, which she has secured on her head with a white headscarf. Sitting next to her is her daughter, Nevart Utidjian, who is wearing a similar long skirt with a long-sleeved blouse, decorated with a lace collar and a dark-coloured ribbon or tie? Her hat is decorated with flowers. The younger man, Artin Arslanian, is wearing a western-style suit with a white long-sleeved shirt and a tie. The older man sitting next to him is Apisoghom Utidjian, who is dressed in a white suit. Both men are wearing dark shoes and is holding hats in their hands. The unknown woman sitting at the back seems to be wearing a rather casual, everyday dress with a shawl around her shoulders; she does not have a hat. She might have been a servant sitting behind the two couples. This was taken in the late 1910s or early 1920s.

The photograph shows Edgar and Eugene Papasian with friends in Troödos in 1906. The woman sitting close to the piano is wearing a long-sleeved, floor-length dress of a bright material. She has her hair gathered all around and caught up. The man playing the violin is wearing a dark western-style suit with a white, long-sleeved undershirt with a high collar. The two men on the left are also wearing western-style suits, white shirts and ties, whereas the man on the right is wearing a white-long sleeved shirt. All members of the party seem to be intellectuals, members of the high urban society.

Photograph of the wedding of Dr. Dickran Utidjian and Edith Lomax, in London in October 1926. The woman on the left is wearing a simple, western-style long-sleeved and knee-length dress, made from a light fabric. She is also wearing a brimmed hat, tights and heeled shoes with a strap, and is holding a bunch of flowers. The two men on the right are both wearing western-style suits with vests and white shirts with high collars. However, the gentleman with the beard has chosen a suit in a darker colour, a tie and gaiters over his black shoes, whereas the man on the far left is wearing a suit made of a lighter material, and a bow tie.

The groom is wearing a western-style dark-coloured suit with trousers made of a different, striped fabric. He is also wearing a light-coloured vest, a white shirt with a bow tie, and gaiters that cover part of his black shoes. In his left hand he is holding a pair of white gloves. The bride is wearing a white western-style, knee-length wedding dress and a long transparent, embroidered veil attached to a hood, which is heavily embroidered with pearls. She is also wearing white stockings and heeled shoes with pointed toes and a strap. She is further accessorised with a long pearl necklace, and is holding a rich bouquet of white lilies.

The photograph shows, standing from left to right, Elsie, Edgar, Jules, Eugene and Victoria, the five children of John and Bertha Papasian, who are sitting at the centre. They were an Armenian family who lived in Egypt (originally from Smyrna), but Victoria would marry Hrant Utidjian and move to Cyprus. Elsie and Victoria are wearing similar western-style, light-coloured dresses with lace frills on the upper part, full pleated skirts, a belt encircling their waists, and also pleated, elbow-length sleeves. However, Elsie’s skirt is calf-length, longer than the knee-length skirt of her younger sister. According to the general trend, the hemline should descend towards the ankles as a girl got older. The two sisters also have different coiffures: Elsie has her hair caught up and tied at the back, while Victoria has long hair that fall on the left front side and on her back, and are decorated with a bow.

Edgar, Jules and Eugene are all wearing western-style suits made from a dark-coloured material, dark vests and high-collared white shirts with black bow ties. The father is also wearing a western-style suit with a vest and a white long-sleeved shirt with a high collar and a tie. The chain of a pocket watch is attached to a buttonhole of his vest. His wife, Bertha, who is sitting next to him in a similar armchair, is wearing a long-sleeved western-style evening dress made from a bright, light-coloured material covered with a thin, intricately embroidered layer of black tulle that is also used for the transparent sleeves and for the multiple frills across the top of the dress. The skirt is voluminous, with many folds, long and trained. A small brooch decorates the high collar of this impressive dress. Bertha has her hair caught up to form an impressive coiffure.