Studio photograph taken by Ahmet Şevki, in Nicosia. A young boy is sitting on a chair of Viennese type. He is wearing a three-piece suit of European style, made of English striped cashmere. A white gömlek (shirt) and a tie are to be seen under the waistcoat. He wears European shoes tied with laces, and çorap (stockings). On his head he wears an Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı fesi). The photograph dates to about 1918.
Translator:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Author:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Description:
Studio photograph taken by Ahmet Şevki in Nicosia, about 1918. A young boy is standing with his left arm resting on a high corner table. He is wearing a two-piece suit made of English cashmere, a white gömlek (shirt) and a bow-tie. Attached on the collar of his jacket there is a fresh carnation, as was fashionable in those days. European shoes and a soft fes (fez) made of keçe (felt), complete the attire.
Translator:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Author:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Description:
Photograph of a young man called Adem, son of Hacı Tahir. He was born in 1900 and died in 1934. The photograph was taken in 1918, in the studio of Ahmet Şevki, with paintings and flower decoration in the background. He wears an Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) with a headscarf ornamented with lace forming yellow tulip motifs. His light-coloured gömlek (shirt) is of the g(k)avuşturma type and is combined with white dizlik (knee-breeches) and white cotton çorap (stockings) provided with white cotton loom-woven garters with tassels. In sharp contrast to this light-coloured attire stands the polychrome imported silk guşak (sash, turk. kuşak). The silk polychrome guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) around his waist was imported from Tripoli (tarablus, turk. trablus) around the waist. The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are black, decorated with a fiyonklu potin (bow-tie buckle) on the front; there is also a small buckle in the centre of the bow. This is a typical traditional attire.
Translator:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Author:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Description:
Photograph of a young man, Mehmet Kahkül. It was taken in the studio of Ahmet Şevki around 1918. He is standing with his left hand resting on a couple of books placed on a high corner table. On the floor in front of the table is a flowerpot. In his right-hand Mehmet holds a gırbaç (whip, turk. kırbaç). Part of his short hair falls forward, in a style called kahgül. He also has a moustache. The headscarf that covers the head is ornamented with tulip pattern lace (lale oyası). He wears a gömlek (shirt) of pistachio pattern (fıstıklı), with pleats in front and a collar, combined with şalvar, (baggy trousers) made of broadcloth (çufa, turk. çuha) and a silk colourful guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) from Tripoli (tarablus turk. trablus) around the waist. The şalvar (baggy trousers) seem to have applied braided decoration along the sides. Over the gömlek (shirt) he wears a black linen long sakko (jacket) with a tulip on the yaka (collar). Below the flower appears the zincir (chain) of his watch, attached to a ring. His legs are covered with long hand-knitted acurlu çorap (woolly stockings), which meet the end of the baggy trousers just below the knees.His flat slip-on shoes are of the type known as kundura (turk. kuntura), decorated with a bow (papyonlu kuntura).
Translator:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Author:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Description:
Photograph of Hasan Mehmet Pol, taken in Ahmet Şevki’s studio in Nicosia. Ahmet Şevki was a well-known photographer who closed his shop in 1923 and emigrated to Turkey. Thus the photograph must have been taken some time before 1923. Painted decoration forms the background. The young man appears in a typical posture, standing near a corner table with his left hand resting on it. There is a flowerpot on the table and a vase with flowers on a lower shelf. Hasan has short hair and a thick moustache. He wears the Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) with a white yemeni (headscarf) around it, ornamented with needle lace reproducing carnation motifs all around the edges. His gömlek (shirt) is made of a loom-woven coarse cloth, probably made of cotton and silk (idare, gc. itares = fine cotton yarn, silk-cotton fabric with warp of fine cotton yarn; see Papademetriou 1991, 125). The silk polychrome guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) around his waist was imported from Tripoli (tarablus turk. trablus). From the waist hangs a watch suspended from a chain. He also wears black dizlik (knee-breeches) and long çorap (stockings) that come up to the knees; the stockings are hand-knitted and decorated with a flowerpot pattern made with dyed cotton thread. The boots come up to the ankles and are provided with elastic on both sides (gonçlu potin).
Translator:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Author:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Description:
Photograph of Nazım Hasan Gambil from the village of Angastina. It was taken in Ahmet Şevki’s studio in Nicosia, not later than 1917. Nazım covered for a younger relative who had committed a murder. He was found guilty in the court and was condemned to death. He was hanged by the British authorities in 1922. It is a stylized studio photograph taken in front of artificial, painted and rolled decoration. The same flower decoration can be recognized in the background of other photographs. The man is standing with his left hand resting on a corner table with a vase full of flowers on it. He looks very serious. He has short hair and a moustache with its ends turning upwards. He wears a gömlek (shirt) with a separate collar and buttons, as well as a striped tie. His two-piece dark-coloured suit (trousers and jacket) is of western style. In the left breast pocket of the jacket is a white silk handkerchief. His black kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are closed with buttons at the sides. This attire has been characterized as an example of the British-Ottoman dress chaos (Ingiliz-Osmanlı kıyafet kargaşası; kıyafet = dress, general appearance; kargaşa, kargaşalık = confusion, disorder).
Translator:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Author:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Description:
Photograph of a wealthy man, Ömer Hacıali. He was born on 15th May 1888 and died in 1980. The photograph was taken not later than 1917 in Ahmet Şevki’s studio. The man stands resting his left hand on a high corner table on which is a vase with roses of different colours. Ömer has short hair and a moustache. He wears a rigid Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) with a yemeni (headscarf) around its lower part, decorated with lace; the pattern consists of narcissus (nergiz) flowers. His attire is traditional, composed of a silk gömlek (shirt), şalvar (heavily pleated breeches) made of blue broadcloth (çufa/ turk. çuha) and a silk multi-coloured guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) around the waist. His köstekli saat (watch) is hidden in the waist guşak (sash, kuşak) but its chain hangs down in front on the right side. The çorap (stockings), which reach up to the knees, are hand-knitted and bear the coffee cup (fincan) pattern on a white background. The front part of the black ankle boots (a shoe-like galosh with instep and leg of a different material) is covered with a light-coloured part. These boots are described as making a creaking noise (kapalı gıcırdaklı potin). In his right hand he holds a ipek mendil (silk handkerchief). The photograph was hand-coloured at a later stage; the gömlek (shirt) was painted light blue.
Translator:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Author:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Description:
Photograph of two young men, Gara Hasan and Çolacık Hüseyin, standing side by side. The photograph was taken around 1915. Both have short hair and a moustache. Gara (turk kara) Hasan holds a kırbaç (whip) in his right hand – a striking example of Cypriot ‘bullies’ of that time. He wears a fes (fez) in the form of a üskifi fes; (üsküf is a rounded skullcap, a knitted bonnet or cap) and is surrounded by a yemeni (headscarf) decorated with lace imitating oleander flowers (dört yapraklı ağı çiçeği). His white gömlek (shirt) is loom-woven and has a short collar and long sleeves ending in cuffs. Over the shirt he wears a cepken dikme yelek (sleeveless waistcoat) with applied braided decoration (gaytan, turk. kaytan) and around his waist a woollen loom-woven kırmızı guşak (red sash, turk. kırmızı kuşak). His dizlik (knee-breeches) are black and the long handmade white çorap (stockings). The black lastikli potin (ankle boots) have elastic on both sides. He also has a watch with a silver chain, which seems to be hanging from his waist guşak (sash, turk. kuşak). Çolacık Hüseyin wears an Ottoman, flat-topped fes (fez) with a yemeni (headscarf) around its lower part. The scarf is decorated with lace reproducing the jasmine (yasemin) motif. His white loom-woven gömlek (shirt) is combined with şalvar (breeches) made of coloured sky-blue broadcloth (çufa, turk. çuha), and a double folded multi-coloured guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) from Tripoli (tarablus, turk. trablusk) around the waist. The çorap (stockings), which reach up to the knee, are handmade and colourful, decorated with the vertically arranged ‘snake bone’ pattern (ilan, turk. yılan (snake) kemiği). The black ankle boots are provided with elastic (lastik) on both sides, to facilitate wearing. This traditional attire is accompanied by a rather ‘modern’ black sakko (jacket) of western style. It is worth noting that the şalvar (baggy breeches) of Hüsey in, which seem to have applied decoration alongside the legs, seem to match with the richly decorated waistcoat worn by Yusuf. This combination would make a typical old traditional festive Turkish Cypriot costume, known from preserved examples and photographs.
Translator:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Author:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Description:
Photograph taken between 1910 and 1915. It shows two young boys (10-12 years old), Yusuf Gondo and Mehmet Zorba, standing side by side and holding their right hands. They are similarly dressed. Yusuf Gondo (left), who was born in 1900 in Kanli and died in 1941, wears the Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) and around it a yemeni (headscarf) decorated with a handmade lace with the tulip pattern; his costume comprises a gömlek (shirt) with designs, white beyaz dizlik (bez knee-breeches) and a kırmızı guşak (red sash, turk. kırmızı kuşak) around his waist. The white cotton çorap (stockings) are hand-knitted and cover the legs up to the knees. They are held in place with knitted or plaited dark-coloured handmade cotton örme (straps). The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are plain and black. Mehmet Zorba (right) also wears the Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes), which has a püskül (tassel); its lower part is surrounded by a çevre (kerchief) ornamented with lace reproducing a leaf pattern (yaprak oya). His linen (bez) gömlek (shirt) is made of a striped cloth (alaca), the dizlik (knee-breeches) are of white cotton and covered at the waist by a kırmızı guşak (red sash, turk. kırmızı kuşak). His cotton çorap (stockings) are hand-knitted and held in place below the knee with handmade straps. The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are black and decorated with a toka (buckle) on the front.
Translator:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Author:
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Description:
Photograph taken between 1910 and 1915. It shows two young boys (10-12 years old), Yusuf Gondo and Mehmet Zorba, standing side by side and holding their right hands. They are similarly dressed. Yusuf Gondo (left), who was born in 1900 in Kanli and died in 1941, wears the Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) and around it a yemeni (headscarf) decorated with a handmade lace with the tulip pattern; his costume comprises a gömlek (shirt) with designs, white beyaz dizlik (bez knee-breeches) and a kırmızı guşak (red sash, turk. kırmızı kuşak) around his waist. The white cotton çorap (stockings) are hand-knitted and cover the legs up to the knees. They are held in place with knitted or plaited dark-coloured handmade cotton örme (straps). The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are plain and black. Mehmet Zorba (right) also wears the Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes), which has a püskül (tassel); its lower part is surrounded by a çevre (kerchief) ornamented with lace reproducing a leaf pattern (yaprak oya). His linen (bez) gömlek (shirt) is made of a striped cloth (alaca), the dizlik (knee-breeches) are of white cotton and covered at the waist by a kırmızı guşak (red sash, turk. kırmızı kuşak). His cotton çorap (stockings) are hand-knitted and held in place below the knee with handmade straps. The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are black and decorated with a toka (buckle) on the front.