Sialin

Sialin, women’s shawl, from the village of Koilani. It is made of dimiton, a silk fabric woven with four heddles, and decorated with the tie-dye technique.

The basic colours are white, yellow, green, red and burgundy. The linear designs create a complex mosaic with lozenges, crosses, rosettes, straight, zigzag and curved lines, all of which are formed with dots, a result of the tie-dye technique. A large cross with an outline of white dots divides the shawl into four parts, each of which contains a different lozenge design. At the centre of the shawl, there is a lozenge containing rows of yellow dots. At the top left, the lozenge is divided into four squares with small pairs of designs. The top right part contains a flower with three petals. In the bottom left square part, the lozenge has seven oblique parallel lines of yellow dots on a green background. The bottom right square contains concentric circles made of white, green and yellow dots. Two sides of the shawl are finished in selvage while the other two end in tassels of warp threads, in the burgundy colour of the background.

It is preserved in very good condition. For similar examples, see Egoumenidou 1997, 43, fig. 12; Papadimitriou 2008, 15, 29; Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 107, no. 74, 108, no. 75.

Dimensions: length 105 cm., width 110 cm.

Sialin, women’s shawl, from the village of Koilani. It is made of dimiton, a silk fabric woven with four heddles, and decorated with the tie-dye technique.

The basic colours are white, yellow, green, red and burgundy. The linear designs create a complex mosaic with lozenges, crosses, rosettes, straight, zigzag and curved lines, all of which are formed with dots, a result of the tie-dye technique. A large cross with an outline of white dots divides the shawl into four square parts, three of which contain a central lozenge design. At the centre of the shawl, there is a lozenge containing nine small squares with three white dots in their centres. The bottom left and top right square parts have the same lozenge variation, consisting of eight oblique parallel lines of yellow dots on a green background. The bottom right part is divided by yellow dots into thirty small squares, containing flowers with four white dots at their centres, in alternating red, burgundy and green colours. The top left part has a flower with five petals at its centre. Two sides of the shawl are finished in selvage while the other two end in tassels of warp threads, in the burgundy colour of the background.

It is preserved in very good condition. For similar examples, see Egoumenidou 1997, 43, fig. 12; Papadimitriou 2008, 15, 29; Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 107, no. 74, 108, no. 75.

Dimensions: length 105 cm., width 110 cm.

Sialin, women’s shawl, from the village of Koilani. It is made of dimiton, a silk fabric woven with four heddles, and decorated with the tie-dye technique.

The basic colours are white, yellow, green, red and burgundy. The linear designs create a complex mosaic with lozenges, crosses, rosettes, straight, zigzag and curved lines, all of which are formed with dots, a result of the tie-dye technique. A large cross with an outline of white dots divides the shawl into four square parts, each of which has a central lozenge design. At the centre of the shawl, there is a lozenge containing nine small squares with three white dots at their centre. The bottom left, top left and top right squares have the same lozenge variation, consisting of six oblique parallel lines of yellow dots on a green background. The bottom right square contains a flower with three petals. The background of the shawl is covered with smaller lozenges and other linear and curvilinear designs. Two sides of the shawl are finished in selvage while the other two end in tassels of warp threads, in the burgundy colour of the background.

It is preserved in very good condition. This shawl is depicted in Egoumenidou 1997, 43, fig. 12. Other similar samples can be seen in Papadimitriou 2008, 15, 29; Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 107, no. 74, 108, no. 75.

Dimensions: length 105 cm., width 110 cm.

Donation by L. Drandakis, 2017. Purchased from the antiquarian shop "Homeros," Soutsou Street, Athens.

Sialin, women’s shawl, from the village of Koilani. It is made of dimiton, a silk fabric woven with four heddles, and decorated with the tie-dye technique.

The basic colours are white, yellow, green, red and burgundy. The linear designs create a complex mosaic with lozenges, crosses, rosettes, straight, zigzag and curved lines, all of which are formed with dots, a result of the tie-dye technique. A large cross with an outline of white dots divides the shawl into four square parts, each of which has a central lozenge design. At the centre of the shawl, there is a lozenge containing nine small squares with three white dots at their centre. The bottom left and top right squares have the same lozenge variation, with seven oblique parallel lines of yellow dots on a green background. The top left square contains a cross with pairs of small flowers between its arms, while the bottom right square has a flower with four petals in its centre. The background of the shawl is covered with smaller lozenges and other linear and curvilinear designs. Two sides of the shawl are finished in selvage while the other two end in tassels of warp threads, in the burgundy colour of the background.

It is preserved in very good condition and is similar to the two Koilani shawls in the Cypriot ethnographic collection in the Benaki Museum (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 107, no. 74 and 108, no. 75).

Dimensions: length 105 cm., width 110 cm.

Donation by L. Drandakis, 2017. Purchased from the antiquarian shop "Homeros," Soutsou Street, Athens.

Sialin, women’s shawl, from the village of Koilani. It is made of dimiton, a silk fabric woven with four heddles, and decorated with the tie-dye technique.

The basic colours are white, yellow, green, red and burgundy. The linear designs create a complex mosaic with lozenges, crosses, rosettes, straight, zigzag and curved lines, all of which are formed with dots, a result of the tie-dye technique. A large cross with an outline of white dots divides the shawl into four parts, each of which has a central lozenge design. The bottom left and top right parts have the same lozenge variation, with seven oblique parallel lines of yellow dots on a green background. The top left square contains a cross with pairs of small flowers between its arms, while the bottom right square has a flower with four petals in its centre. The background of the shawl is covered with smaller lozenges and asymmetrical linear designs. Two sides of the shawl are finished in selvage while the other two end in tassels of warp threads, in the burgundy colour of the background.

It is preserved in very good condition and is similar to the two Koilani shawls in the Cypriot ethnographic collection in the Benaki Museum (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 107, no. 74 and 108, no. 75).

Dimensions: length 105 cm., width 110 cm.

Donation by L. Drandakis, 2017. Purchased from the antiquarian shop "Homeros," Soutsou Street, Athens.

Sialin, women’s shawl, from the village of Koilani. It is made of dimiton, a silk fabric woven with four heddles, with fringed edges. It is decorated with the very old tie-dye technique. A large cross with an outline of white dots, a yellow wavy band in the vertical and horizontal arms, and a lozenge at its centre, divides the shawl into four parts, each of which has a central lozenge design. The lozenges of the top left and bottom left are similar, filled with seven oblique parallel lines of yellow dots on a green background. The lozenge in the top right square encloses a flower with four petals, while the bottom right square contains a cross of white dots, with pairs of small motifs between its arms. The background of the shawl is covered with small linear motifs.

All the designs, in white, yellow, green, red, and burgundy colours, are formed by dots, which are characteristic of the technique of tie-dyed shawls. Similar samples can be seen in Egoumenidou 1997, 43, fig. 12; Papadimitriou 2008, 15, 29; Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 107, no. 74, 108, no. 75.

These distinctive shawls were also exported to the Dodecanese, especially to the island of Kastellorizo. This specific shawl is preserved in very good condition.

Dimensions: length 105 cm., width 110 cm.

Donation by L. Drandakis, 2017. Purchased from the antiquarian shop "Homeros," Soutsou Street, Athens.