Nicosia The Aziz Damdelen Collection

Street photograph taken by an unknown photographer in 1940. It shows Kemal Mustafa Damdelen (born in 1912, died in 1964) and Ahmet, from Kiados (Çatoz), in Mesaoria. Kemal wears a cotton shirt woven on the loom and an English cashmere jacket, silk sash (tarabulus kuşak), blue broadcloth breeches (çuha şalvar) with the traditional applied decoration on both sides, hand-knitted stockings (Temroz çorabı), with patterns, black elastic-sided ankle boots with white leg upper parts (gonç, namely the part of the boot that comes up to the ankle). Ahmet wears black baggy trousers similar to vráka (şalvar), a red woollen loom-woven sash around the waist, and black knee boots (kuntura çizmesi) tied under the knees with strings (çizme bağı) made of goat hair.

Photograph of Emine (born in 1917 in Kanli) and Tahsin Mustafa Damdelen (1912-1964). It was taken in the Public Garden, Nicosia, between the years 1938 and 1940.

Emine stands on the right side of her husband. She wears the typical Muslim women’s outdoor overgarment, in its modern version of the late 1930s; the headdress is low on the front and leaves exposed only the part of the hair which covers the ears. The veil falls on either side and encloses the upper part of the body down to the waist; on the chest it is closed with a pearl pin; the skirt is wide and reaches just below the knees; this garment is called kırmalı çarşaf (pleated). Under the çarşaf she wears a white shirt with broad cuffs which can be seen below the edges of the veil. Her stockings are also white, while the footwear, which she acquired as dowry from her parents, consists of two-tone slip-on court shoes with peaked toecaps, and high heels. Around her neck is a necklace with a series of beads. In her right hand she holds a white bag with a strap, the top fashion of that time.

The man’s curly hair has a parting on the left and falls to the right. He wears a western-style jacket made of English brown fabric; the coat is closed with two buttons and has a double collar and three pockets; in the left breast pocket is a silk handkerchief decorated with lace. Under the jacket he wears a white silk shirt bought in 1938; the wide collar of the shirt falls over the jacket’s collar. This European-looking costume on the upper part, is combined with traditional dress items on the lower body: loom-woven knee-breeches (dizlik) made of cotton cloth dyed black by a dyer (boyacı), hand-knitted stockings (Temroz çorabı, of the style used in Templos, in Keryneia) with white patterns on black background (a flowerpot with a tripartite flower motif with juxtaposed birds on top), and elastic-sided ankle boots (lastikli konçlu potin) with lighter upper parts. He holds a folding stick in his left hand.

Source: Emine Damdelen.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.

Photograph of Mustafa Keleş (1915-1987). It was taken in 1938 by an anonymous street photographer, with an artificial background unrolled behind the person. Mustafa has a moustache and his hair is so combed as to fall on his right side, a hairstyle known as kahkül or pipi. He wears a white poplin shirt with the collar falling over the collar of his jacket, which is of western style, made of English fabric, with three buttons and three pockets. The lower part of his body is covered with baggy trousers, woven on the loom with white cotton thread; they reach down to the knees, where they meet the black leather knee boots; the boots are of ‘Frankish’ style and show decorative horizontal relief bands.

Source: Emine Keleş.

Village: Kalyvakia (Kalavaç), Mesaoria, Nicosia District.

Studio photograph of Şifa Hüseyin Esengin (1908-1989). The photograph was taken in 1938, when she was 30 years old. Seven years earlier, in 1931, Şifa had become a midwife. In the studio she is standing near a column with a podium, on which she rests her right hand. The background shows a romantic landscape. Her wavy hair is just long enough to cover her ears. She wears a full-length sleeved dress made of cotton cloth (idare) with a narrow belt of the same fabric around the waist. The rather narrow, straight skirt shows vertical stitched lines in front (sewn with a machine). Two obliquely sewn lines also appear on either side on the breasts. A separate, detachable wide collar made of a different white fabric, covers the shoulders and all around the chest and back. It is tied in front with cords. This modern style is complemented with thin, transparent stockings and white, perforated, high-heeled sandal bar shoes with a buckle fastening.

Photograph donated by Şifa’s son, Yusuf Esengin.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.

Photograph of a young girl with long hair, dressed in a modern light-coloured dress with a white collar. A cord is tied in front and falls on the chest ending with tassels. The dress has long sleeves and probably a belt of the same fabric at the waist. Her hair is held back by a metallic band, both functional and decorative. Earrings hang from her pierced ears.

Street photograph showing three standing men, all with short hair and moustaches. The one on the right side is a police corporal (onbaşı), dressed in British uniform with Ottoman fez (Osmanlı fes). The man in the middle combines a European-style jacket with ;alvar, a colourful sash (tarabulus kuşak) around the waist, and a fez with a head-kerchief (yemeni) around it, decorated with lace. He also wears stockings and leather elastic-sided ankle boots (gonçlu potin). On the lapel of his jacket he has attached a light coloured rose. The third man, on the left, is wearing a European-style three-piece suit, a pastel coloured shirt and a fez. A fresh flower, probably a carnation, decorates the lapel of his jacket, which has a handkerchief in the breast pocket. His boots (gonçlu potin) are also elastic-sided. This photograph must date before the mid-1930s, when policemen stopped wearing the Ottoman fez.

Photograph of Mehmet Çoban Hüseyin (1903-1985); it was taken by an anonymous street photographer, outdoors with a painted background, which shows slender columns and looped-back curtains. The man is standing with his right hand resting on a chair; he looks young, with a well-trimmed moustache and short hair almost completely covered by his high Ottoman fez.

He wears a white shirt with straight collar and over it a knitted pullover (kazak), with a corn pattern (darı), a light-coloured jacket and riding breeches with their lower part tucked into black leather knee boots. His attire is modern. It may be assumed that Mehmet must have had a horse, probably to go around and inspect his workmen.

Source: Hatice Tin, Ali Mehter.

Village: Epicho (Abohor), Nicosia District.

Studio photograph of Ali Mulla Hüseyin (1915-1995), taken in 1932. The painted background, carpet and corner table are the same as in No. 032. The young man stands on a colourful carpet with his right hand resting on a corner table, which has a vase with a variety of flowers placed on its lower shelf. He has a short moustache and a peculiar hair style with a parting on the left and the wavy hair falling on the right side (TCy kahkül, Turk. kakül = lock of hair, side lock). He wears a white shirt with a wide open, sailor-like collar which falls over the collar of the jacket; the latter is of western style with two buttons and two superimposed pockets clearly visible on the right side: it is described as divişli sakgo. The lapel of the coat is decorated with a carnation. The rest of the attire is traditional: it comprises black knee-breeches, a pilgrim’s striped scarf, presumably from the Holy Land, used as a waistband (hacı şalı kuşağı), and long hand-knitted stockings of thick thread in light rose colour; the pattern consists of concentric lozenges arranged in vertical series. The leather boots are fashionable, of two different colours, black with the upper part white. They are elastic-sided ankle boots (lastikli gonçlu potin).

Donated by Veli Avcı.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.

Photograph of Mehmet Zorba, born in 1913 in Kanli near Gönyeli. The photograph was taken in the year 1932 in the same studio of Fevzi Akarsu as No. 033. On the lower left corner of the photograph there is the potographer’s archive number A 951, while on that of No. 033, the number A 925 appears; this means that the latter was taken slightly earlier than No. 032. The painted background is the same in both photographs, but here it is much clearer: the large window with glass panes, a painting hanging on the wall and below it a slender table with a vase full of white blossoms on it. The man stands on the carpet in the same posture as Ali (No. 033), with his right hand on the white corner table, which has the same pot with various flowers on its lower shelf. The hair style of Mehmet, who is only 19 years old in this picture, is kakül (TCy kahkül, Turk. kakül = lock of hair, side lock) with his thick short wavy hair brushed to the right side; the coiffure is completed with a short moustache. He is also dressed similarly to Ali in No. 033: his white shirt is loom-woven, the jacket made of English fabric wrinkled, not ironed, yet decorated with a red carnation on the lapel and a white handkerchief in the breast pocket. The wide out-turned collar of the shirt covers the jacket’s collar. This was the fashionable style for young people in the 1930s. By contrast, the lower part of the attire follows traditional patterns: a Tripoli silk sash (ipek tarabulus kuşak) around the waist on top of light blue çuha şalvar, made of broadcloth, with fine applied decoration of black silk braids, forming the typical curvilinear stylized vegetal patterns known from other examples; this is the only piece which differentiates the appearance of the young men on the two photographs. As for the stockings and the footwear, it is as they have put on the same items: light rose knitted stockings with lozenge patterns, and bichrome (black and white) elastic-sided ankle boots (lastikli konçlu potin, konç = leg of a boot or stocking).

Source: Emine Damdelen.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.

Photograph taken in 1931 in the studio of Fevzi Akarsu, commemorating the wedding of Sadiye Ali (1905-1989) and Ali Hasan Yorgancı (1906-1989) (the same persons as in No. 030). The painted background shows a window and a low table on which stands a vase with flowers, all white.

The bride, Sadiye Ali, wears a white wedding-dress (gelinlik) decorated with hand-embroidered spiral patterns in purple colour on the chest, and a single line around the neck. The dress is long, down to the ankles, and shows a narrow horizontal strip of the same cloth just below the waist. The dark hair forms waves along the front and falls down over the shoulders on the chest (a similar coiffure to that of the bride in No. 027). The head is covered with an impressive crown composed of artificial, handmade flowers, white and yellow. From the crown falls a long veil (duvak) with golden yellow tinsels along its inner sides (tel). Thin, transparent stockings and black button bar shoes complement the wedding attire. Around the neck there is a black ribbon of thick silk tissue (mantin) from which hang a bendo and three red/golden lira (kırmızı (altın) lira), of pure gold. This is a characteristic traditional jewel. The left hand of the bride is resting on the groom’s shoulder. Her fingers are painted with henna, as was customary (the dark-painted fingers of the right hand are seen more clearly).

The groom wears a loom-woven white silk shirt with soft black-striped collar and broad sleeves with cuffs; also black knee-breeches and a wide Tripoli sash (tarabulus kuşak) around the waist; the colours of the sash match those of the hand-knitted stockings, which are decorated with checkered patterns. He also wears black elastic-sided ankle boots. Worth mentioning is the special hair style with hair parting in the middle and falling on either side with ends turning upwards; this style is called horaşa/horoşa by the Turkish Cypriots (probably related to the Greek word horístra, parting). He has thick eyebrows and moustache.

Although accompanied by the traditional tall headdress, the wedding attire of the bride seems to follow the fashion of 1930. On the other hand, the groom is traditionally dressed, as is the case with the couple in No. 027.

Source: Mehmet Yorgancı ailesi.

Village: Kiados (Çatoz), Mesaoria, Famagusta District.