cotton

Dark burgundy headscarf made from an extremely fine cotton fabric. All around the edges, there is a dense printed decoration of 31 repeated floral compositions of a variety of closely arranged, extremely delicate flowers. The floral motifs appear in green, blue, brown and white colours, which stand out vividly against the deep-coloured background. The four corners are occupied by a larger composition of similar flowers and leaves, framed by two smaller bouquets. The smaller of these motifs are repeated eight times. The centre of the headscarf features a wreath with a diameter of 43 cm, consisting of six bouquets, similar to those that frame the corner patterns. The edges of the headscarf are decorated with a fine sewn-on band of golden thread. Worn pieces of the original golden thread, have been replaced with ready-made yellow thread. The headscarf shows many signs of wear, some of which have been provisionally repaired.

This is an imported headscarf, which most likely comes from a workshop in the region of Bosphorus – either from Nihori on the western coast or from Kandilli on the eastern coast.

Dimensions: length 107 cm., width 107 cm.

Women’s square headscarf of fine cotton fabric (kouroukla), dyed in bright red. It is decorated with printed floral designs along the edges and in the centre. On each side, four similar bouquets of extremely fine flowers in green, yellow, and red colours, with black outlines, are repeated, while a larger composition of flowers and leaves occupies the four corners of the headscarf. In the centre, a floral composition is surrounded by a wreath. The finish is of simple twisted cord, without lace.

The headscarf most probably originates from the workshops of the Bosphorus – either from Nihori on the western coast or Kandilli on the eastern coast – which were famous for their printed scarves.

The traditional technique of calico-printing was practiced in the Bosphorus workshops as far back as the 17th century. These workshops used fine linen, silk cotton, muslin and cotton. The headscarves were decorated with floral compositions, which included tulip bouquets and carnations, as well as almond and cherry blossoms.

The Armenian and Greek folk artisans of Istanbul developed the technique of calico-printing into an art. It is believed that in the carving of wooden blocks for printing the designs, Armenian artisans played a leading role. Both Greek and Armenian women made significant contributions to the art of stamping, specialising in the application of colour with a paintbrush within the printed outline (for the workshops in Bosphorus, see Bozi 1997, 45-57).

Dimensions: length 107 cm., width 107 cm.

Women’s headscarf made of kouroukla, dyed in a deep red colour called tzeramidin. It is decorated with printed floral motifs in red and yellow, with black outline. The designs – of the edges (kkenarin) and the four corners (the milia) – are similar to those of the other printed headscarves of the workshop of Evris Michael (or Euripides Mantilaris) and Kakoullis Brothers. Pipilla lace decorates the edges of the headscarf and is handsewn in silk thread. The pattern features tiny white flowers with green leaves, repeated in a row.

The headscarf shows signs of wear, and repair indicates that the pipilla lace had come apart in some places. Despite this, the clarity of its motifs and the brightness of its colours are well preserved. Similar samples exist in the National Historical Museum in Athens (Gangadi et al. 1999, 178, fig. 179, 180), in the Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia, in the Historical and Folklore Museum of Corinth, in the Municipal Museum of Folk Art in Limassol, as well as in private collections.

Dimensions: length 100 cm., width 100 cm.

Workshop of printed headscarves Evris Michael and Kakoullis Brothers, Nicosia.

Woman’s headscarf made of kouroukla, dyed with a dark burgundy colour, called xidin (the colour of vinegar). They are decorated with printed floral motifs in red and yellow, with black outlining. The designs – of the edges (kkenarin) and the four corners (the milia) – are similar to those of the other printed headscarves of the workshop of Evris Michael (or Euripides Mantilaris) and Kakoullis Brothers. Pipilla lace decorates the edges of the headscarves and is handsewn in silk thread. The lace pattern features tiny white flowers with green leaves, repeated in a row.

Similar scarves exist in the Benaki Museum (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 111, no. 77; see also Hadjimichali 1983, 394, fig. 423), in the Cyprus Folk Art Museum of the Society of Cypriot Studies, in the Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia, in the Historical and Folklore Museum of Corinth, in the Municipal Museum of Folk Art in Limassol, as well as in private collections.

Dimensions: length 100 cm., width 100 cm.

Workshop of printed headscarves Evris Michael and Kakoullis Brothers, Nicosia.

Purchased in Nicosia in the 1960s at the price of 55 drachmas.

Donation: I. Papantoniou.

Woman’s headscarf made of kouroukla, a thin cotton cloth, dyed in a green colour. They are decorated with printed floral motifs in red and yellow, with black outlining. The edges, known as the kkenarin, are decorated with a repeated composition of leaves and flowers in diagonal arrangement, while the inner four corners are decorated with neoclassical-style wreaths (milia pattern). The lace edging (pipilla) forms tiny flowers, a pattern called foulin, inspired by the synonymous white flower. The headscarves are printed by specialist technicians called mantilarides, while the pipilla was made by women. The green headscarf was worn by young women, and for this reason, headscarves of this colour fell out of use in the course of the 20th century.

Selected printed green headscarves are preserved in museum collections, for example in the Cypriot Collection of the National Historical Museum in Athens (Gangadi et al. 1999, 178-179, fig. 178), in the Cypriot ethnographic collection of the Benaki Museum (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 111, no. 78; see also Hadjimichali 1983, 394, fig. 422), in the Cyprus Folk Art Museum of the Society of Cypriot Studies, in the Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia, and in private collections.

Dimensions: length 100 cm., width 100 cm.

Workshop of printed headscarves Evris Michael and Kakoullis Brothers, Nicosia.

Double-breasted zimbouni made of striped alatzia in blue and burgundy. The neck has a low standing collar. The front part consists of four pieces, two of which are triangular. The inner triangular side is fastened with black soutache. The zimbouni is fastened on the inside with woollen cords, crossing the right side over the left. The left fastening cord has a length of 10 cm. and the right of 23 cm. The front opening has a black soutache finish 37 cm in length, reaching to the point where the cords tie. The sleeves are sewn vertically onto the body, and for ease of movement, two right-angled triangles with a 13 cm. length and 8 cm. width have been added at the armpits, and are joined at their longest sides. The opening of the sleeves measures 9 cm. lengthwise and is lined with soutache, which continues along the entire edge of the sleeve, with a decorative loop in the middle. On the inside, the lower part of the sleeves is reinforced with two connected pieces of the same fabric. The inner part has a height of 6 cm. and vertical stripes. The outer piece has a height of 3 cm. with horizontal stripes. The inner reinforcement is visible when the sleeve is folded outward. The back consists of a single piece of fabric. The zimbouni is lined with beige cotton, on which the black thread of the machine-sewn seams is visible.

Dimensions: height 59.5 cm., width 47 cm. Collar: 2 cm. Sleeves: length 47.5 cm., width 16 cm.

A sleeved waistcoat (zimbouni) made of cotton alatzia with burgundy and yellow stripes, similar to the fabric of the vest CMLE 2686/2. The neck features a low standing collar. The front consists of four pieces, while the back is a single piece. The sleeves are sewn vertically to the body. Under the armpit, gussets (two triangular pieces of fabric, joined at their longest sides) have been added for ease of movement. At the lower ends, the two sleeves have an additional piece, a cuff with a height of 14 cm. and an opening of 12 cm. The opening of the sleeves is adorned with soutache with four loops for buttoning. All the buttons are missing. The opening of the sleeves is emphasised with two rows of white seams. On the front, the two pieces that cross over the chest are of triangular shape and fasten with two external black bone buttons on the left side, and with one internal button, of which only the loop is preserved. The two loops on the triangular piece of the right side are 9 and 11 cm. away from the bottom end, respectively, while the distance from the inner loop to the bottom end is 9 cm. The soutache of the back runs also along the front side, the bottom edge, and the collar. Additional emphasis is given by white seams all around the front sides and the collar. On the right side, there is an internal pocket with a handmade seam of black cord. The horizontal opening is decorated all around with soutache and double white seams. In the upper part, at the centre of the opening there is a small loop. The zimbouni is lined with beige cotton with double reinforcement on the left seam, which extends to the joining point with the left sleeve. The seams and the sleeve on the right side are also reinforced.

Dimensions: height 50 cm. width 45 cm. Sleeves: length 59 cm., width 19 cm.

Donated by: N. Triantafyllou. Purchased for 2.50 Cypriot pounds.

Headscarf (tsemberi) made of fine cotton cloth (kouroukla), dyed in a dark vinegar colour known as xidin. It is decorated with printed floral motifs, composed of branches with leaves and flowers that are arranged diagonally along the edges of the headscarf, known as the kkenarin. The inner corners are adorned with neoclassical-style wreaths, a pattern known as milies. The headscarf is decorated with pipilla, a lace edging made of white and green silk thread and featuring a pattern of continuous tiny flowers.

The headscarf shows signs of wear and the colour has faded in some areas. In certain places the lace edging has come apart and there appear to have been attempts to repair it.

Dimensions: length 100 cm., width 100 cm.

Workshop of printed headscarves Evris Michael and Kakoullis Brothers, Nicosia.

Men's wide multi-coloured silk belt, known as ttalapoulouzin, with tassels on the narrow sides. The name originates from Tripoli in Lebanon (Tarabulus/Trablus), whence it was imported to Cyprus. It consists of three panels, joined lengthwise. The belt is made of woven silk, with stripes and a chequered pattern in a similar arrangement on all three panels, especially on the two outer panels, which are nearly identical. The warp on one outer panel is in burgundy and orange colours, as seen from its extension into tassels, while the tassels that extend from the warp in the other outer panel are in black and burgundy colours. The warp of the central panel is in black and white and also extends into tassels. The colours on the two outer panels are burgundy, orange, light green, black, and white, with alternating colours creating stripes of different widths. On the back side of the panels, the colours and threads of the warp are more prominent. The colours on the central panel are black, orange, light green, white, and burgundy. They are the same as the outer panels but with a different arrangement and density, forming stripes and a chequered pattern.

The connections between the panels are made by hand with a chain stitch, using thick silk thread in a bright orange colour. The Cypriot collection of the National Historical Museum in Athens contains a similar two-panel ttalapoulouzin (Gangadi et al., 1999, 120). A three-panel sample is also preserved in the Aziz Damdelen Collection, which includes numerous photographs of Turkish Cypriots wearing ttalapoulouzin as part of their festive traditional attire, even into the early decades of the 20th century, and often in combination with European-style shirts and jackets (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou and Damdelen, 2012, 244-245, no 118; see for example, photographs 004, 005, 007-009, 012, 013, 022). A similar belt, known as "tarapulous," was used in the Pontus region (Papantoniou, 1996, 108-109).

Dimensions: total width: 82 cm. (first-panel width 25 cm., central panel 29 cm., third panel 25 cm.)

Donation: Chr. Koutlidou

Nightgown and underwear belonging to Haiganoush HadjiTantian (Χαϊγκανούς ΧατζιTαρατιάν) Both pieces were made of woven silk fabric in off-white colour and were decorated with fine embroidery around the neckline and the hem. Originally, they belonged to Haiganoush’s  mother-in-law.