jacket (sarka)

Inv. no. 216: Short women's jacket made of lilac velvet, richly decorated with twisted cord or braid (terzidiki) embroidery. The jacket consists of seven pieces: the back part, almost triangular with a sharp narrowing towards the bottom, two front pieces, and two side pieces under the sleeves, which are joined with a double gold braid. Gold braid generally covers the seams and edges and also forms part of the decoration of the back and the sleeves. The central pattern on the back is a tall, stylised floral motif with spirals, rosettes and small leaves, usually interpreted as the tree of life. It is framed by two peacocks with their heads turned backwards. The same peacocks, a symbol of excellence and beauty, with long tails that extend into spiral motifs, are also embroidered onto the two front pieces. The decoration is characterised by movement, expressed by the prominent curves in the rendering of the birds and the diversity of the spiral motifs which repeat selected elements of the principal floral pattern in the complimentary decoration. The jacket is lined with printed fabric featuring paisley designs in prominent colours. Yellow/gold fabric is used as lining in the sleeves. This jacket differs from the Cypriot sarka, its cut and decoration being similar to that of the peseli, the late 19th-early 20th century women’s festive and bridal waistcoat of Corfu. The embroidery was done by specialised craftsmen, the terzides, who originated principally from the mountainous areas of Greece and provided with their embroidered dress items the Balkan regions. Their embroidery, characterised by consistency of style, was done with chrysogaitania or chartzia, gold thread twisted into fine cords, and secured with stitches onto the fabric. While this jacket is clearly an imported item, it could easily be worn in place of the Cypriot sarka, as a luxurious addition to formal attire (for similar examples see Theotoki 1994, 84-85, and Zora 1994, 125 and 23 for the terzidiki embroidery).

In Cyprus as elsewhere, the lilac colour, as well as the black or blue, were colours used in formal costume.  

This jacket belonged to Mariou Karydi-Pieraki from the Ionian islands, great-grandmother of Zeno Pierides.

Dimensions: Height: 41.25 cm. Shoulder width: 42.5 cm. Lower edge width: 32 cm. Sleeve length: 51 cm and width: 17 cm and 12 cm at the ends.

Sarka, a women's short jacket with long sleeves, made of black felt, with intricate applied decoration. It consists of two front pieces that extend to the sides to join the trapezoidal piece at the back. The front has a deep oval-shaped opening that becomes straight at the lower part, where the edges are fastened together with three hook-and-eye clasps. The lining of both sides of the vertical opening at the lower part of the front, is reinforced with red satin. The sleeves widen towards the edge and are sewn vertically onto the body, with inner seams. The edges of all the openings are covered with sewn-on decoration of twisted cord made of golden thread, which forms floral motifs, curved branches, and leaves. The finish consists of a thin band with a chain-like pattern. This applied decoration, with variations in the patterns, is very common in Cypriot sarkes. It typically covers the bottom edges of the sleeves, the opening of the chest and the edge of the lower part of the sarka at the waist. The garment is lined with beige cotton fabric. A similar type of sarka, with an almost identical sewn-on decoration, is worn by the woman in a couple’s portrait in festive costume, at the Saint Herakleidios monastery fair in the late 19th century (photograph in the Album of Max and Magda Ohnefalsch-Richter; see Marangou and Malekos 1990, p. 70a).

Dimensions: height 37 cm., width 29 cm. Sleeves: length 50 cm., width 18 cm. at the top and 23 cm. at the bottom.

Women’s short long-sleeved jacket (sarka) of black felt, with sewn-on decoration. The sarka consists of a single piece of fabric, which covers the chest and the back, while additional pieces cover the body under the armpits. The sleeves are made of separate pieces of felt, which are sewn vertically onto the body. The vertical opening on the chest is deep and oval-shaped, and closes at the lower part with five hook-and-eye clasps. Around the opening of the chest, all around the bottom edge of the garment and the edges of the sleeves, there is a sewn-on decorative band of twisted cord and gold thread, formed into stylised floral patterns with a chain-like finish. In the middle, below the sewn-on decoration, three horizontal ribbons of olive green, coral and blue have been sewn into the felt. The jacket is lined with beige cotton fabric and at the lower part of the sleeve it is lined with a deep red silken material with floral motifs. The garment is preserved in fairly good condition, although in several places the sewn-on decoration had come apart and was repaired.

This type of sewn-on decoration is common and characterises many Cypriot sarkes, which are part of the formal, bridal, or festive Amalia-style costume, initially urban and later also rural (as indicative examples, see sarkes from the period 1850-1870, from Peristeronopigi Ammochostou, in Michalopoulou-Charalambous 1993, 196-197).

Dimensions: Height 39.5 cm. width 43 cm. Sleeves: length 45 cm., width 17-19 cm.