Edmond Duthoit

Travelogues concerning Cyprus include valuable information about many aspects of life in the island, among other about the appearance of its inhabitants. Clothing is the first item one observes when coming into contact with the people in a foreign country, and is pivotal in creating a first impression of the local population. Travellers refer also to the raw materials and the textiles used for making clothes.     Edmond Duthoit, a French architect and draughtsman, was one of the three members of the Phoenician mission organized by the French Government in 1862, with a view to collect information and antiquities, in particular inscriptions. Duthoit visited Cyprus twice, first in 1862, when he was 24 years old, and returned for the second time in 1865. During his visit to Cyprus he made a number of sketches, from which, in combination with his letters, a most complete picture of the island in the decade of 1860-70 may be developed. The wealth of information encompasses also social aspects of Cyprus, descriptions of customs, food habits, dress etc. A number of his linear quick and sketchy drawings are dedicated to the people of the island, and present a selection of Greek and Turkish attires. In addition to the visual representations, Duthoit also described or made comments on dress: “The women resemble in their dress the pretty girls of Arles wearing with a lot of coquetry a small corsage very low cut that crosses under the breast, a muslin or dantelles cover the chest, the neck remaining bare. A veil covers the head and those who do not have magnificent plaits hanging down their backs, use artificial or natural flowers to cover them.” It was just before Easter when Duthoit reached Kykko monastery and gives a vivid description of scenes of feast: “The courtyard was full of animals: horses donkeys and mules that had brought a great number of pilgrims; the crowd was so big that one part was obliged to sleep in the open air… I saw Kykko as it should be seen with a crowd of people, women and children with the most brilliantly coloured costumes. All the pilgrims were celebrating: the women all wore jackets of velvet with gold embroideries and on their neck hung, made up in a necklace, all the coins of their fortune. I saw the Caramaniote women who wear their hair in numerous plaits almost like strings and attach a piece of gold in every one of the plaits. The effect of this hairstyle is striking and it has nothing unpleasant…” (Severis 1999, 87-91, 95).