Nicosia The Aziz Damdelen Collection

Turkish Cypriot men’s breeches (vraka, turk. dizlik) made of white, loom-woven cotton cloth. Two equal pieces form both the front and back of the body part. At the waist they are gathered with pleats and held in place by a plain white girdle (turk. uçkur/uşgur) which runs through a hem 5cm deep. Below the waist, on both sides, is a vertical slit 17cm long. The total width of the breeches (turk. Dizlik) is 2.16m and the total height 70cm. The leg parts, which are folded lengthwise and stitched to the body piece, have the same height and reach down to the knee (turk. diz), according to the meaning of the term dizlik. At the extremities they have openings 20cm wide for the legs. The edges of these openings are reinforced and orna­mented with three series of machine stitches. At about the middle of the height of the leg piece, is a decorative horizontal band consisting of a zigzag line bordered by a series of stitches. This dress item is very well preserved.

Pleated baggy trousers (vraka, turk. şalvar) made of white cotton cloth. The middle part consists of six pieces stitched together. Each piece is 50cm wide and the whole length is 1.48m. Each side part, for the legs, is made of four pieces sewn together by hand. The upper part of each side is 47cm wide and 15cm long. The lower part is one piece of the same width (47cm) and 20cm long, while the lowest part, which is attached with a thicker join with stitches, consists of two rectangular pieces of the same dimensions (each piece 23.5cm wide, and 42.5cm long), connected lengthwise. This part narrows downwards be­cause of the gathering and ends to the opening for the leg, which is 21cm wide. Next to the main opening, on the inside, there is a small slit, 5cm long. All around the opening are handmade braids (Turk. kaytan/gaytan) of the same cotton material. Another braid forms a wavy line and this is stitched to a double outer braid. At the waist the cloth is turned and stitched to form a casing through which to pass the drawstring/band (Turk. uçkur/uşkur). It is made of a length of dark beige cotton fabric, 10cm wide, whose ends are decorated with silks forming two flowers with leaves, in or­ange, lilac and blue colours. The embroidery is simple and naïf. Many of the pleats are still sewn together, indicating that the vraka was not used. Tradition has it that the reason for this was that the person to whom it belonged died soon after his wedding. It was not a wedding vraka, but it was brand new, made as part of the groom’s clothing. After his death nobody wanted to use it. The white colour was typical for the baggy trousers of the Turkish Cypriots.

Waistcoat (Turk. kavuşturma yelek) made of blue and red broadcloth. The front consists of two pieces of blue broadcloth of the same size (7cm wide on the shoulder, 28cm at the broadest part and 16cm at the lower edge) and can be cross-fastened on either side by means of eight plaited buttons made of black twisted silk thread. There are eight button-holes but only two buttons have been preserved, connected inside with a cord in oblique arrangement. The back is also made of two pieces of red broadcloth; in the middle there is a vertical opening 22cm long, with 9 pairs of holes and one more at the top, for fas­tening with laces. The height of the back pieces from the shoulder to the bottom end is 40cm. The width of each piece is 7cm on the shoulder, 20cm at the broadest part, the top of the vertical slit, and 17.5cm at the lower end. Under the opening for the arms there are two side pieces of red velvet cloth, 8.5cm on the upper part and 4cm at the lower end. They are stitched to the front and back piece and the seam is covered with a braid (gaitania turk. kay­tan/gaytan) bordered by twisted threads, orange, black and purple, in the join with the front piece, and simply with twisted threads on the join with the back piece. On either side of the chest there is a vase-shaped outer pocket made of green velvet. The pockets are decorated with the pattern of a stylized tree with a bird on top, formed with twisted gold wire (turk. tel) sewn to them. The birds’ legs are embroidered with purple thread. The waistcoat is lined with white cotton material. A stripe of red broadcloth is used as reinforcement on either side of the front opening. Around the neck and chest open­ing there is a striped piping (turk. fitil) 2cm wide. The front part bears thick applied decoration, one S-shaped motif ending in a blossom or leaf, filled with scrolls or spirals and alternat­ing wickerwork patterns. The chest is adorned with sophisticated patterns, curving floral motifs, wickerwork patterns, lozenges, scrolls etc. Similar decoration is found all around the opening. The back is also richly adorned: on either side of the opening (vertical slit) there is an abstract flower motif with two lozenges, one smaller on the upper part with curving branches on either side ending in leaves or blossoms. The lower lozenge is filled with wickerwork in orange and green, the smaller in orange. The motif continues with a chain motif. On top of the opening there is a central lozenge and chain motif with two con­fronted lions, one on either side. The motifs are made of twisted threads and metal (gold) wire. The lions are filled with embroidery. Their bodies are made of two compartments separated by a twisted metal wire sewn to them. The eye of one lion is preserved and is made of a twisted gold wire forming a spiral. The lions’ tails end in a leaf-shaped pattern filled with embroidery. Similar decorative patterns, especially the motif of the confronted lions on either side of a schematized tree or plant, also appear on waistcoats which form part of tradi­tional costumes of the Greek Cypriots.The confronted lions are common in Greek folk art and have a very long tradition in art in general.

Double-breasted waistcoat (Turk: kavuşturma yelek) made of broadcloth. It belongs togeth­er with the breeches No. 087 and was worn above a chemise. The front part is made of two pieces of blue broadcloth (çuha/çufa) of the same size, and can be cross-fastened on either side by means of plaited silk thread buttons. On the shoulders, where each front part is stitched onto the back part, the width is 7.5cm. At the point of the crossing over the chest is the broadest part (28.5cm); then the piece becomes narrower downwards and is only 18cm at the lower edge. There are six buttons on either side; the buttons are spheri­cal, plaited with yellow cotton thread and covered with black twisted silk thread. The inside of the parts where the buttons and the buttonholes are found, are strengthened with additional pieces of broadcloth. A white cotton strip attached diagonally connects the buttons on the inside. The reinforced parts of broadcloth are covered with black spi­rals of applied embroidery and a wickerwork pattern, which extends on both sides of the opening up to the shoulder. On either side of the front there are two applied patterns: a broad oval leaf filled with black braids (gaitania, Turk: kaytan, gaytan) and twisted threads, ending in a small blossom filled with embroidery in green and orange silk thread. Next to the leaf is a long S-shaped motif with a spiral at the lower end and a blossom filled with embroidery in or­ange and green silk thread. The sides of the waistcoat, under the openings for the arms, consist of two pieces of purple (turned into brown with time) velvet (Turk: kadife), 4.5cm broad, which widen upwards to a width of 9cm. On the velvet pieces there are lozenge-shaped wickerwork patterns in green and orange, as well as blossoms filled with embroidery in green, orange and blue. On each side of the front there is an outer vase-shaped pocket made of originally purple velvet. The pocket covers the join of the front and side pieces, i.e. it is applied half on the velvet and half on the broadcloth piece. Each pocket is deco­rated with the same abstract vegetal pattern formed with thread twisted with thin metal wire (Turk: tel) sewn to the pocket. Purple and orange thread and black braids are sewn all round the pockets. Similar decoration is applied on all the edges of the waistcoat. The back is made of two pieces of broadcloth, 43cm long and 18.5cm wide. In the middle there is a vertical slit 28.5cm long, with eight metallic rivets (Turk: perçin) on either side and one at the top for a lace to go through and cross-fasten the opening, thus adjusting the waistcoat to the body of the wearer. From the neck to the top of the slit the joint of the two parts is decorated with a narrow piping (Turk: fitil) on each side (total width about 2cm). The back is decorated with lozenge patterns, curving floral motifs and two confronted birds on the uppermost part. The outline of the birds is made of twisted threads, purple, orange and black, the head is filled with gold metallic wire and the body and tail are filled with embroidery of orange and blue silk threads. Overall, every part of the waistcoat has multi-coloured braids, silk threads or twist­ed metal wires sewn to it, forming spiralling floral motifs, wickerwork pattern, lozenges, almond-shaped patterns, scrolls and spirals. This rich adornment calls to mind the motifs of Islamic inspiration incised on bronze utensils of the 18th and 19th centuries. The waistcoat is lined with off-white cotton material. All applied decoration is sewn on thick paper, which can be seen on the inside (the paper is sewn together with the ap­plied decoration). There are also pieces of thicker paper/cardboard. On these papers one can read advertisements in Greek, such as [ΕΡΓΟΣ]ΤΑΣΙΟΝ Η ΚΑΛΗ ΤΥΧΗ / ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΗ ΚΑΠΝΟΣ ΜΥΡΩΔΑΤΟΣ ΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ ΠΟΙΟΤΗΤΟΣ (Good Luck Factory Evangeli aromatic to­bacco of the best quality) Fabrique de T[abac].On another piece of paper inside, one can read: Manufacture of Tobacco G.O. Dianellos and Son. There is also the picture of a sun and above the sun: MINERVA KΑΠΝΟΣ ΓΕΝΙΤΣ… ΜΥΡΩ[ΔΑΤΟΣ] (tobacco YENICE aromatic) Bazar Street 35 ΛΑΡΝΑΚΙ ΚΥΠΡΟΣ (Larnaca Cyprus)