colorful

Sialin, women’s shawl, from the village of Koilani. It is made of dimiton, a silk fabric woven with four heddles, and decorated with the tie-dye technique.

The basic colours are white, yellow, green, red and burgundy. The linear designs create a complex mosaic with lozenges, crosses, rosettes, straight, zigzag and curved lines, all of which are formed with dots, a result of the tie-dye technique. A large cross with an outline of white dots divides the shawl into four square parts, three of which contain a central lozenge design. At the centre of the shawl, there is a lozenge containing nine small squares with three white dots in their centres. The bottom left and top right square parts have the same lozenge variation, consisting of eight oblique parallel lines of yellow dots on a green background. The bottom right part is divided by yellow dots into thirty small squares, containing flowers with four white dots at their centres, in alternating red, burgundy and green colours. The top left part has a flower with five petals at its centre. Two sides of the shawl are finished in selvage while the other two end in tassels of warp threads, in the burgundy colour of the background.

It is preserved in very good condition. For similar examples, see Egoumenidou 1997, 43, fig. 12; Papadimitriou 2008, 15, 29; Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 107, no. 74, 108, no. 75.

Dimensions: length 105 cm., width 110 cm.

Sialin, women’s shawl, from the village of Koilani. It is made of dimiton, a silk fabric woven with four heddles, and decorated with the tie-dye technique.

The basic colours are white, yellow, green, red and burgundy. The linear designs create a complex mosaic with lozenges, crosses, rosettes, straight, zigzag and curved lines, all of which are formed with dots, a result of the tie-dye technique. A large cross with an outline of white dots divides the shawl into four square parts, each of which has a central lozenge design. At the centre of the shawl, there is a lozenge containing nine small squares with three white dots at their centre. The bottom left, top left and top right squares have the same lozenge variation, consisting of six oblique parallel lines of yellow dots on a green background. The bottom right square contains a flower with three petals. The background of the shawl is covered with smaller lozenges and other linear and curvilinear designs. Two sides of the shawl are finished in selvage while the other two end in tassels of warp threads, in the burgundy colour of the background.

It is preserved in very good condition. This shawl is depicted in Egoumenidou 1997, 43, fig. 12. Other similar samples can be seen in Papadimitriou 2008, 15, 29; Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 107, no. 74, 108, no. 75.

Dimensions: length 105 cm., width 110 cm.

Donation by L. Drandakis, 2017. Purchased from the antiquarian shop "Homeros," Soutsou Street, Athens.

Sialin, women’s shawl, from the village of Koilani. It is made of dimiton, a silk fabric woven with four heddles, and decorated with the tie-dye technique.

The basic colours are white, yellow, green, red and burgundy. The linear designs create a complex mosaic with lozenges, crosses, rosettes, straight, zigzag and curved lines, all of which are formed with dots, a result of the tie-dye technique. A large cross with an outline of white dots divides the shawl into four square parts, each of which has a central lozenge design. At the centre of the shawl, there is a lozenge containing nine small squares with three white dots at their centre. The bottom left and top right squares have the same lozenge variation, with seven oblique parallel lines of yellow dots on a green background. The top left square contains a cross with pairs of small flowers between its arms, while the bottom right square has a flower with four petals in its centre. The background of the shawl is covered with smaller lozenges and other linear and curvilinear designs. Two sides of the shawl are finished in selvage while the other two end in tassels of warp threads, in the burgundy colour of the background.

It is preserved in very good condition and is similar to the two Koilani shawls in the Cypriot ethnographic collection in the Benaki Museum (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 107, no. 74 and 108, no. 75).

Dimensions: length 105 cm., width 110 cm.

Donation by L. Drandakis, 2017. Purchased from the antiquarian shop "Homeros," Soutsou Street, Athens.

Sialin, women’s shawl, from the village of Koilani. It is made of dimiton, a silk fabric woven with four heddles, and decorated with the tie-dye technique.

The basic colours are white, yellow, green, red and burgundy. The linear designs create a complex mosaic with lozenges, crosses, rosettes, straight, zigzag and curved lines, all of which are formed with dots, a result of the tie-dye technique. A large cross with an outline of white dots divides the shawl into four parts, each of which has a central lozenge design. The bottom left and top right parts have the same lozenge variation, with seven oblique parallel lines of yellow dots on a green background. The top left square contains a cross with pairs of small flowers between its arms, while the bottom right square has a flower with four petals in its centre. The background of the shawl is covered with smaller lozenges and asymmetrical linear designs. Two sides of the shawl are finished in selvage while the other two end in tassels of warp threads, in the burgundy colour of the background.

It is preserved in very good condition and is similar to the two Koilani shawls in the Cypriot ethnographic collection in the Benaki Museum (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 107, no. 74 and 108, no. 75).

Dimensions: length 105 cm., width 110 cm.

Donation by L. Drandakis, 2017. Purchased from the antiquarian shop "Homeros," Soutsou Street, Athens.

Sialin, women’s shawl, from the village of Koilani. It is made of dimiton, a silk fabric woven with four heddles, with fringed edges. It is decorated with the very old tie-dye technique. A large cross with an outline of white dots, a yellow wavy band in the vertical and horizontal arms, and a lozenge at its centre, divides the shawl into four parts, each of which has a central lozenge design. The lozenges of the top left and bottom left are similar, filled with seven oblique parallel lines of yellow dots on a green background. The lozenge in the top right square encloses a flower with four petals, while the bottom right square contains a cross of white dots, with pairs of small motifs between its arms. The background of the shawl is covered with small linear motifs.

All the designs, in white, yellow, green, red, and burgundy colours, are formed by dots, which are characteristic of the technique of tie-dyed shawls. Similar samples can be seen in Egoumenidou 1997, 43, fig. 12; Papadimitriou 2008, 15, 29; Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 107, no. 74, 108, no. 75.

These distinctive shawls were also exported to the Dodecanese, especially to the island of Kastellorizo. This specific shawl is preserved in very good condition.

Dimensions: length 105 cm., width 110 cm.

Donation by L. Drandakis, 2017. Purchased from the antiquarian shop "Homeros," Soutsou Street, Athens.

Skirt of satakrouta, a pure silk fabric made from coarse unboiled silk. The name derives from the Italian term seta cruda. The colour of the fabric is somon (from the French saumon, salmon). The light-coloured field is interrupted at intervals by three parallel horizontal bands formed in the weft. Each band consists of six stripes – three fine and three broader. The colours (from top to bottom) are light green, deep red and purple. There is a wide band in dark/cypress green at the lower edge of the skirt, below the bottom group of stripes. The fine stripes are 0.5 cm. wide, the wide stripes are 1 cm. wide, and the green band at the bottom has a width of 4 cm. The skirt is ankle-length and wide. It gathers at the waist, where a thin belt of the same fabric has been sewn on. At the side, there is a vertical opening of 15 cm, with two cotton ribbons which tie at the waist. The skirt is lined with off-white cotton fabric (hases) and has a simple hem at the bottom. The fabric has some stains and shows signs of wear.

This is a characteristic Cypriot urban skirt, particularly of Nicosia. This type of skirt was worn in Cyprus as part of a more recent variation of the national dress inspired by the costume of Queen Amalia, dating back to the late 19th/early 20th century. For examples of the same skirt as part of a complete Amalia-type costume, see: Papantoniou 1996, p. 100; similar examples can be found in Papadimitriou 1991, p. 15; Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 1996, p. 76, fig. 38; Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, p. 136-137, no. 91b, and pp. 138-139, no. 92b.

Dimensions: height 90 cm., width 40 cm.

Acquisition: 03/12/1956. Price: 275 drachmas.

Reconstruction of women's traditional costume from Cyprus from the CMLE Collection. The following pages contain the various parts of the costume: shirt (CMLE 822/5a), skirt (CMLE 2196/11), belt (CMLE 2117/10), sarka (CMLE 6088), belt buckle (CMLE 14521), and women's red fez (CMLE 818/1).

Skirt of satakrouta, a pure silk fabric made from coarse unboiled silk. The name derives from the Italian term seta cruda. The colour of the fabric is somon (from the French saumon, salmon). The light-coloured field is interrupted at intervals by parallel horizontal stripes formed in the weft. The stripes are in three groups, each of which has six stripes – three fine and three broader stripes. The colours (from top to bottom) are light green, deep red, and purple. Below the bottom group, at the lower edge of the skirt, there is a broad band in dark/cypress green. The thin stripes have a 0.5 cm width, the wide stripes have a 1 cm width, and the green band at the bottom is 4 cm wide. The width of each group is 10 cm. The skirt is ankle-length and widens towards the hem. It gathers at the waist, where a thin belt of the same fabric has been sewn on. At the side, there is a vertical opening of 15 cm, with two cotton ribbons that tie at the waist. It is lined with off-white cotton fabric and it has a simple hem at the bottom. In places, the fabric is stained and shows signs of wear.

This is a characteristic urban festive traditional skirt, primarily made in Nicosia. This particular type of skirt was worn in Cyprus as part of a more recent variation of the national dress inspired by the costume of Queen Amalia, dating back to the late 19th/early 20th century. For examples of the same skirt as part of a complete Amalia-type costume, see: Papantoniou 1996, p. 100; similar examples can be found in Papadimitriou 1991, p. 15; Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 1996, p. 76, fig. 38; Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, p. 136-137, no. 91b, and pp. 138-139, no. 92b.

Dimensions: height 90 cm., width 40 cm.

Price: 275 drachmas.

Reconstruction of women’s costume from Cyprus, from the CMLE collection. The following pages contain the various parts of the costume: shirt (CMLE 1015/2), skirt (CMLE 2195/5), sarka (CMLE 1985/2), buckle (CMLE 2499/2), necklace (myrmidin) (CMLE 13905), women’s red fez (CMLE 2213/11) and fez headscarf (CMLE 2145).

Yelekkin (vest) made of black velvet, double-breasted, with eight buttonholes and eight buttons arranged diagonally on each side. The front part consists of two pieces, decorated with dense embroidery of thin sewn-on black cord around the chest opening, and intricate stylised patterns (lozenges, spirals, lattice motifs, etc.) at the crossing and around the buttons, as well as at the edge of the vest.

On the right side, there is an external, vase-shaped pocket of black velvet, with a border of blue, green, orange, and brown cord. Above the chest, there is a small decorative motif made of fine cords forming a rectangular with lattice filling, a lozenge and spirals, in blue, green, and yellow colours.

The back is made of a single piece that continues below the armpits and joins the front pieces with coloured seams. There is a central opening extending vertically from the waist to the upper back; it closes with a red ribbon threaded through 16 eyelets. By tying the ribbon, the waistcoat can be better adjusted to the body. Sewn-on twisted cord of green, orange, and blue colours forms a decorative lattice pattern running along the opening and the lower hem of the back. A stylised double-headed eagle in the same colours is embroidered above the opening.

The vest is lined with off-white cotton fabric. The inner neck opening and lower part of the bust are reinforced with braid. Black lining behind the buttonholes, measuring 10 cm above and 7 cm below, provides extra reinforcement to the front opening. Two identical stamps of the manufacturer Georgios Filis are impressed on the off-white lining. Similar stamps are found on other vests in the collection.

Dimensions: height 41 cm., width 44 cm.

Donation: Chr. Koutlidou.