Nicosia The Aziz Damdelen Collection

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. 

Studio photograph taken in 1914. It depicts a young couple, Ekrem Ovgorozlu, an inspector in the British administration, and his wife Pembe Ovgorozlu. The man is sitting on a chair of Viennese type, with his legs crossed and hands resting on his knee one over the other. His left arm is placed partly around the back of the chair, which appears at his elbow. He has short hair and a short moustache. He is dressed in western style; his cos­tume is composed of a white gömlek (shirt) with collar, around which is tied a black tie. Over the shirt he wears a white cashmere waistcoat and a jacket of the same material. His trousers are of brown striped cloth and end with a wide double turned hem. He also wears knitted çorap (stockings) and front lace ankle boots (the side seam is the more formal style, continuous from sole to sole – ‘closed tab’). The lady is standing next to her husband with her hands on a high corner table in front of her. She wears a ‘modern’ long white dress with sleeves down to the elbows. The sleeves have vertical openings with two horizontal strips. There is a round opening around the neck and a belt at the waist. Thin black çorap (stockings) are combined with white kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) with a narrow strap at the front. Her head above the eyebrows is covered with the traditional çarşaf which is made of white silk and hangs down the back. Her appearance is complemented with jewellery. The earrings consist of two round elements, one on the ear and the other hanging. Around her neck she wears a traditional necklace made of gold Ottoman coins (turk. Mahmudiye) tied onto a black ribbon, and on her left wrist twisted bracelets. The white tablecloth has a handmade band all around the edges; the repeated pat­tern consists of the white flowers of the tree Sambucus nigra. On the table stands a vase of flowers.  

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.

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.

The photograph shows a young man sitting on a village chair with his right leg rest­ing on the left. A blanket hangs in the background. The young man is Ayalı Mehmet Bey; he was born in 1895 and died in 1913. He has short hair and a short moustache. His head is covered with an Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) surrounded by a headscarf, which is decorated with lace in narcissus (turk. nergis) pattern. He wears a light-coloured gömlek (shirt)  made of ordinary fabric; it has long sleeves ending in cuffs, a short collar and an opening at the centre front closed with buttons. Over the gömlek (shirt) he wears a western-style jacket. Loom-woven şalvar (pleated baggy trousers) come down to the knees; the long white woolen, square-patterned çorap (stockings) come over the trousers and stop below the knees. Around the waist there is a wide guşak (sash, turk. kuşak). He wears slip-on kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) with medium high heels; on the front, they are decorated with a dark broad band.

Fez (fesin, turk. fes) made of dark red felt. The felt is stuck onto cardboard, which forms the inside lining and keeps the fez in shape. From the centre of the top protrudes a piece of felt, on which is stitched a tassel made of twisted black thread. The fez is old and worn. Diameter of top: 14cm. Opening: 18cm. Height: 12cm. Length of tassel: 16.5cm.

Man’s chemise (poukamiso, turk. gömlek) made of silk-cotton crepe textile, white with light brown stripes, woven on the loom with wefts of different tensions, thus creating puckered stripes along the warp (taiston). The front is made of a piece 80cm long and 72cm wide, with the stripes set vertically. On the chest is an additional rectangular piece (46x20cm) with a vertical opening 39cm long, fastened by five buttons (one of them on the col­lar). Here the stripes are arranged horizontally and the cloth is gathered together with stitching forming a honeycomb pattern within a frame. The strip of cloth that borders the lower part of this piece has decorative zigzag stitches. An additional piece stitched to the lower edge makes the front part 17cm longer. On the shoulders is another piece of cloth, 13.5cm wide and 56cm long from arm to arm, with the stripes set horizontally. The back is one piece with the stripes arranged vertically, and is stitched to the shoulder piece and to the sides of the front piece under the arms. The back is also elon­gated with an extra piece of the same cloth, 8cm long, attached to the lower end. The edges are treated with machine stitching. Around the neck is formed an upright collar 3.5cm wide. The long sleeves (57cm) are sewn vertically to the body and to the shoulder piece. Starting with a width of 25cm at the shoulder, the sleeves narrow downwards to 13.5cm and end in cuffs 6cm wide, fastened by one white button. The stripes of the cuffs are horizontal. The chemise is of fine manufacture and well preserved. 

Man’s chemise (poukamiso, turk. gömlek) made of striped cotton cloth (alatzia, turk. alaca), with blue and red stripes on off-white background. The front part consists of two pieces of about 18cm width each. The length in front is 60cm. The piece of cloth forming the front continues as a single piece at the back for 39cm, then it is stitched to another piece 15cm wide. At the neck there is a two-piece collar. The front has a vertical opening fastened by five buttons of white and blue colour. Along the opening on either side there is an extra piece of cloth, each 7cm wide, the stripes of which are set obliquely. These extra pieces make the total width of the front 50cm (18x2+7x2cm). Additional square pieces, made of two triangular pieces of the same cloth stitched together diagonally (19cm), are inset at each underarm to give ease of movement. At the lower edge there is a slit on each side, 5cm long. The chemise is lined with white cotton fabric. On the right side it has a pocket (26cm high, 17cm wide) made of an extra piece of alaca with the stripes set horizontally. The opening of the pocket is 13.5cm wide. The long sleeves, which are sewn vertically to the body, end in cuffs, 7cm deep, fastened by one button.The cuffs are of the same alaca but with the stripes set obliquely. At the joint with the cuffs, the width of the sleeves is 12.5cm. At the opening of the sleeves, an oblique stripe is attached, 2cm wide. The seams of the chemise are made with the sewing machine. There is a hole at the lower part of the pocket and the lining near the edge of the back has been repaired with an additional piece of fabric. A rather similar striped silk and cotton chemise was brought to Athens for the Cy­priot Exhibition in 1901, as part of a traditional Turkish Cypriot costume, which also in­cluded the same richly adorned waistcoat (yeleko, turk. yelek) and pleated breeches (vraka, turk. dizlik) both made of blue broad ­cloth (turk. cuha salvar). 

Turkish Cypriot men’s breeches (vraka, turk dizlik) made of ready-fabricated black cloth. The body part consists of two pieces which also continue to form the back. To either side of these are stitched the leg pieces which are folded lengthwise and end with an opening 16cm wide. These openings have four series of stitches at the edge. The seams are made with a sewing machine. All parts have the same length, 68cm, reaching down to the knee. At the waist a black girdle runs through a hem 3cm deep, and in the middle of the front, below the waist, is a vertical opening 19cm long. The total width of the dizlik is 2.00m. It is worn, repaired with patches, and the colour is faded.

Turkish Cypriot men’s breeches (turk. dizlik) of factory-made black cloth. The body part, 72cm long, is composed of two pieces stitched together (lengthwise) in the middle of the front side and continuing at the back with the same seam. Each part of the legs, 70cm long and with a total width of 30cm, is folded and stitched lengthwise. At the extremi­ties the cloth is sewn together for 15cm, leaving an opening of 15cm. At the waist it is supported by a black strip of cloth (turk. uçkur/uşkur), which runs through a hem 2.5cm deep. In the middle under the girdle is a vertical opening 20cm long. The breeches have been repaired with patchwork, and the black colour is faded.