The Aziz Damdelen Collection Kioneli (Gönneli)

Photograph of Şah Mehmet (1900-1938), taken in 1925. It is a ‘while-you-wait’ pho­tograph with an unrolled painted background showing a tall column on the left behind the young man. He poses seated on a traditional wooden chair, with legs crossed, the right over the left leg. His left hand grasps the upper end of a stick, while the right hand is resting on the left and holds a cigarette between the fingers. He has a short, trimmed moustache and his hair is completely covered by a tall Ottoman fes (fez). He wears a white gömlek (shirt) made of raw silk cloth (sadakor); it has full sleeves with broad cuffs and a turned-out collar. The silk, colourful şalvar (sash) around his waist is from Tripoli (tarab­lus turk. trablus), as are also his şalvar (baggy breeches). The heavily pleated şalvar (baggy breeches) seems to have been made of blue broadcloth and is richly decorated with applied braids made of twist­ed silk threads, forming a wickerwork pattern and solid curving motifs ending in spirals. The decoration is especially thick at the edges of the leg openings around the knee. This kind of şalvar (baggy breeches) is part of the typical attire of the Turkish townsman in Cyprus, and, as shown by several surviving examples, it is usually accompanied with a similarly decorated waist­coat. Şah Mehmet is also wearing long çorap (stockings) with lozenge-shaped designs (baklava) and brand new, gıcırdaklı gonçlu potin (creaking, elastic-sided, leather ankle boots). From his belt hangs a silver chain, longer than two yards (arşın = Turkish measure of length of about 28 inches, 68cm, now obso­lete) with a watch suspended from it.

Photograph of two young men, taken in 1924. Derviş Çomunoğlu (1900-1991), who is presented sitting on a village chair, was a teacher by profession. He wears a casual, sport jacket over a white gömlek (shirt) with collar and a tie, cashmere trousers, dark çorap (stockings) and white front lace shoes, usually for summer wear. He has a typical posture, with his hands on the right leg which is crossed over the left, and looks stern. The other man, standing next to Derviş with his right hand resting on the back of the chair, is Ömer Hasan Sinekci, four years younger (1904-1995). He wears a tailor-made modern shirt with tie and a western-style waistcoat with four buttons. Surprisingly, the lower part represents typical traditional attire: white pleated şalvar (baggy breeches) made from a loom-woven cotton fabric, gathered at the waist and supported by a red guşak (sash turk. kuşak). Thick, knitted çorap (stockings) come up to the knees and are combined with light-col­oured sandals decorated with buckles on the front. Both men have short-cut hair and a moustache.

Photograph of Nuri Ahmet (Erbaş), born in 1908. The photograph was taken in the early 1920s, when he started high school (rüşti, turk. rüşdiye). It is a studio photograph with a painted background showing a balcony with a column and looped-back tasseled cur­tains. The young man is standing with his right hand resting on a corner table. On top of the table is a decorated flowerpot with roses. He wears a plain Ottoman fes (fez), a gömlek (shirt) with collar and a tie, as well as a white woollen knitted waistcoat. The upper part of the attire is completed with a ceket (jacket) made of raw güğül (silk, turk. güvül) and bearing a school pin on the collar. His trousers are made of şal (loom-woven homespun woollen cloth). Around his waist he bears a kolan palaska (broad cartridge belt bandolier) with buckle. The chain of the watch is also visible. He wears front lace gonçlu potin (ankle boots).

Photograph of Kunturacı Mus­tafa Yeşiltaş with his family. It is a studio photograph, as shown by the painted background with drawn-back curtains, and was taken in 1922. Mustafa and his wife Emine are sitting with their children on their knees, the girl in her mother’s lap and the young boy on his father’s left knee. In the centre of the photo­graph, between the pair, is standing Nuri, Emine’s brother. Mustafa, the older man, wears an Ottoman fes (fez), a loom-woven cotton gömlek (shirt), şalvar, (baggy trousers) made of broadcloth (çufa turk. çuha) and deco­rated with spirals and other curvi­linear motifs of twisted black braids sewn onto it, a polychrome silk guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) The silk polychrome sash around his waist was imported from Tripoli (tarab­lus turk. trablus) around the waist, white çorap (stockings) tied below the knee, and black elastic gus­set ‘Cambridge’ shoes. As an accessory he has a köstekli saat (watch with chain). Emine Hanım wears the typical for Muslim women long black dress with çarşaf (veil this is a two- or three-piece); the veil covers the head and part of the forehead, and the front part of the çarşaf has buttons. Her front lace shoes or boots are also black. The young girl, her daughter Pembe, wears a yemeni (headscarf) ornamented with handmade lace with the motif of narcissus (nergiz) all around the edges; also a dress made of white cotton flannel cloth (bazen kumaş), handmade çorap (stockings) with tassels and bow-ties (püsküllü çorap fiyonklu) and white shoes, probably with a strap over instep, or boots. The young boy, Salih Yeşiltaş, wears a dress made of loom-woven striped cloth (alaca), hand-knitted lastikli çorap (elastic stockings) and button bar shoes. Nuri Erbaş wears an Ottoman fes (fez), a gömlek (shirt) made of loom-woven coarse cloth, probably made of cotton and silk (idare, in Gr.C.itares = fine cotton yarn, silk-cotton fabric with warp of fine cotton yarn; see Papademetriou 1991, 125), striped trousers of three quarters length, a white jacket and gonçlu potin (ankle boots).  

Photograph of Mustafa Efendi Arif Salih, Muhtar of the village of Mora. It was tak­en in the Foto Necdet Studio about 1923. Mustafa is sitting on a chair with his right leg crossed over the left and holds a riding kırbaç (whip) with both hands. He has short hair and a thick moustache with upturned ends. He wears an Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) with a tassel. Over the white gömlek (shirt), of which only the collar around the neck is visible, is a libade (short quilted jacket) with decorative patterns (libade in Turkish also means a broadcloth coat worn in rainy weather). From his neck down to the waist hangs a köstek saat (watch chain). Around his waist is a silk guşak (sash, turk. Kuşak) imported from Tripoli (tarab­lus turk. trablus) – denoting that he is a wealthy person. His dizlik (knee-breeches) are black (kara) and the legs are covered with handmade striped çorap (stockings). The attire is complemented with yarım lastikli gonçlu (turk. Konçlu) potin (leather elastic-sided ankle boots with medium height heel). Mustafa was a very powerful person and this is reflected in the photograph.

Photograph of Mustafa Efendi Arif Salih, Muhtar of the village of Mora. It was tak­en in the Foto Necdet Studio about 1923. Mustafa is sitting on a chair with his right leg crossed over the left and holds a riding kırbaç (whip) with both hands. He has short hair and a thick moustache with upturned ends. He wears an Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) with a tassel. Over the white gömlek (shirt), of which only the collar around the neck is visible, is a libade (short quilted jacket) with decorative patterns (libade in Turkish also means a broadcloth coat worn in rainy weather). From his neck down to the waist hangs a köstek saat (watch chain). Around his waist is a silk guşak (sash, turk. Kuşak) imported from Tripoli (tarab­lus turk. trablus) – denoting that he is a wealthy person. His dizlik (knee-breeches) are black (kara) and the legs are covered with handmade striped çorap (stockings). The attire is complemented with yarım lastikli gonçlu (turk. Konçlu) potin (leather elastic-sided ankle boots with medium height heel). Mustafa was a very powerful person and this is reflected in the photograph.

Photograph of Osman Karahasan, born in 1902 and still living in 1994. It was taken in the studio of an anony­mous Greek photographer, most probably in Famagusta, in the year 1921. The photograph was sent to the fiancée of Osman as a souvenir. The young man stands in front of an artificial, painted background which depicts a landscape with palm trees. In his right hand he holds a folding kırma baston (walking stick), while the elbow is resting on a corner table, the front side of which bears an elaborate relief decoration showing a mask of a lion’s head with open mouth. On the table is a flow­erpot decorated with pie-crust garlands and plastic animals, a rare example of a type of pottery which was made exclusively in Varoshia. Osman has short hair and moustache, and wears a plain Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes). His loom-woven gömlek (shirt) is made of silk (sadakor) which forms vertical wrinkles in the weaving (due to partly looser weft); around the neck, under the collar, he wears a kırmızı mendil (red kerchief). The dark-coloured jacket is of western style and has a silver pin on the collar; a silk handkerchief shows in the left breast pocket. The şalvar (pleated breeches) are made of broadcloth and close just below the knees, where they meet the long çorap (stockings). Along the sides the şalvar (breeches) are decorated with applied black braids which form curvilinear patterns on a light, most probably light blue background. Origi­nally such şalvar (pleated breeches) were matched with a similarly decorated waistcoat, also made of blue broadcloth. The çorap (stockings) are white and decorated with lozenge (lokumlu) patterns. The kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura) are also white (beyaz) and provided with high heels. Around his waist is a loom-woven guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) with a silk kese (purse) hidden in it. 

Photograph of Osman Karahasan, born in 1902 (the same person as in No. 17). He was a person of high status. The photograph was taken in 1921 in the arched portico of his house with the front door in the background. The young man sits on horseback and holds the reins of his black mare, the mane of which is combed. Next to the horse stands its foal. Osman wears a rigid Ottoman fes (fez, turk. Osmanlı durulla fes) wrapped with an yemeni (headscarf) decorated with almond-shaped lace motifs. His sakko (jacket), of indigo blue colour (çividi), is of the type that can be double-crossed (gavuşturma sakko) on the chest. He also wears black dizlik (knee-breeches), cotton çorap (stockings) and white kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura). Evidently, his attire com­bines western features, such as the jacket and the shoes, with traditional dress items (the şalvar (breeches) and the headdress). 

Photograph of two boys, from left to right, Kemal Damdelen and Ahmet Behlül (Arap Ahmet), taken about 1920. Street photograph by an unknown photographer. The boys are similarly dressed in white gömlek (shirt) and dizlik (knee-breeches), with tarabulus guşak (sash, turk. trablus kuşak) around the waist; Kemal seems to wear a dark guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) over the tarabulus guşak (The silk polychrome guşak (sash) around his waist was imported from Tripoli (tarab­lus guşak turk. trablus kuşak), also knitted çorap (stockings) with ‘snake bone’ (yılan kemiği) patterns. The smaller boy, Ahmet, wears plain stockings of light colour. Both have their stockings tied under the knees with strings, probably ending in pompons. Their kuntura (shoes) are flat; those of Kemal are black and decorated with a flower buckle. On the head Kemal wears a high fes (fez) and Ahmet a lower fes (fez), both decorated with a twisted yemeni (headscarf) with handmade lace. This was the usual Turkish Cypriot dress of the time.

• Photograph of Ömer Hasan (1866-c.1946). It was taken outdoors, by an anony­mous street photographer, but the man stands in front of an artificial background with a tree crudely painted on it. He wears a red fes (fez) with a white twisted çevre (kerchief) tied around its lower part. His hair is very short and almost completely covered by the fes (fez), his moustache thick with upturned ends. Over a white fanella (shirt), he wears a front-buttoned jacket (hırka = woollen, or wadded and quilted jacket), a tarablus guşak (Tripoli sash, turk. trablus kuşak) with tassels at the edges, kara dizlik (black knee-breeches), knitted cotton çorap (stockings) with horizontal stripes, all white, and black tab front kundura (shoes, turk. kuntura). The stockings are tied under the knees with black strips.