no. 69 Inv. No. 26134: Povratzia from Pafos. The two identical, rectangular pieces of woven cotton are covered with pefkota (=dense as in carpets, the word deriving from the Greek word επεύχιον (epefchion, peftzin in the Greek-Cypriot dialect) loom embroideries, made of finger-woven cotton threads. Blue and red are the basic featured colours, while light yellow/beige and light blue are used as complementary. Remains of metallic thread are still preserved at certain points of the decoration.
The decorative pattern, which covers the whole surface of each povratzin, consists of rows of consecutive lozenges, in alternating red and blue colours. Each lozenge contains four smaller ones, the interior of which is of lighter colour or is made of shiny metallic thread, having a red or blue dot in the middle.
12 vertical rows of lozenges survive on each povratzin. A horizontal row of stylized trees, foinikoudes (= palm trees), in alternating red and blue colours, extends at the top, long side of both povratzia. Along the edges of each povratzin there are also three horizontal weft lines. Two of them are blue, while the one in-between is red. Dimensions: 45x30 cm.; 45x31 cm.
The povratzia belonged to the collection of Angeliki Pieridou and were donated to Benaki Museum by George and Marina Pierides in 1981.
A similar embroidery with a feggaroto pattern is featured in: Pieridou 1980, pl. XXIγ; Pieridou 1976, pl. III. Such embroideries are usually found at the lower ends of vratzia (= baggy pantaloons worn by women as underwear), which were part of the Karpasia and Pafos female attire. Obviously, the povratzia presented here had a similar use.
