Cyprus-Forum.com

[T_C]

I've been good thanks. I am on the forum regularly, though only spectating..

I would order it myself, but she asked me if I wanted something, i'd rather my own 60 euros went towards the real thing and not the book as I've become a bit of a fanatic collector of Lefkara lace.

According to Androula Hadjiyiasemi's book, prior to 1900 most if not all Lefkara designs were worked on cotton or cambric. Anyone know if that's correct?!

The reason I ask is I often come across older "Italian" laces which carry distinct elements of Lefkara...I wonder if such pieces are the bridge between Italian & Lefkara lace?

My grandmother was making her living doing Lefkara lace. She was from a village nearby and it looks all women in the area knew the art.
There were pieces for big dining room tables that would take her almost a year to finish!
From what I remember she was using some rather thick type of fabric similar colour to that shown on the book cover.The threads were either white or gold-brown the latter been more expensive.
When she would finish them she would iron them and they really looked like pieces of art.
Each of her grandchildren still has one piece about 1 square meter that she made with her own hands, in her memory

There's definitively a connection between Lefkara and Italy, I think the Lefkarites/Lefkaricis were Venetians actually. Even the style of their houses over there looks more like that of Italian villages.

Good to see you around T-C are you sure you do not originate from the Venetians yourself? I mean most Varoshiotes are

My wife (now 60 yo) made lefkaritika from the age of 8 ( she was tought by her yia yia ) We have a suitcase full of it in the attic. When I was over last September I took my grandson to visit the Leventis museum where they had a display on and explained to him that HIS yia yia made the same.... He didn't believe me till we got back and I showed him...I will try and post some pictures in the next couple of days.......Btw she also made pafitika and other lacework. .

Richard please do, I'd love to see! Why don't you use them from time to time, or as Pyro suggested at least store them properly.

[T_C]

Hi T_C Good to see your interest hasn't wavered.

You got me thinking about this and since I've recently given (and sold) a lot of my mother and grandmother's lacework (I had tons that I could no longer store) I've been checking this out a bit too.

My mother could turn her hand to anything and the lacework she made was superior to Lefkara lace in detail - although some is very similar (depending on the final purpose). Some of my grandmother's (mainland Greek) lace is unbelievably fine - one woman went berserk when she saw a very long strip of my grandmother's lace and decided to redesign her wedding outfit so that she could add this as a trim. I decided to give it to her as would my gran have done.

Anyway, this type of lacework would either have been transferred horizontally from the mainland or possibly (unlikely) via the Venetians as Greek lace predates the Venetian lace. Also, examining some pieces, I have to say, Lefkara lace is much more similar to Greek lace than it is to the Venetian lace.

Hey GiG!

No way, I'm still collecting, though I've given up the idea of making something for the foreseeable future.

There's a lot of confusion with Greek lace. As I understand, Greek though it predates Venetian lace, has an appearance similar to what it known as reticella, right?! In which case yes it is very intricate, much more so than Lefkara. It's also hard to find, so I'm not surprised people went berserk for it. I'd imagine heirloom pieces get sold and passed around to friends and family hence why they rarely end up on the market.

Lefkara does use the same technique (I think it's called pitotto) but it truly is a hybrid lace overall. What I come across sometimes are laces which are typical of Venetian lace, but which also contain motifs that are distinctly Cypriot.

I've attached a picture of one to show you what I mean. It's a small segment of a large tablecloth...if you look closely, the motifs and cutwork on the top and bottom row border which surrounds the fillet laced part is distinctly Cypriot, but the rest of the cloth is a mixture of styles typical of Venetian laces of the late 19th century.

I just wonder if as I suspect there is an abundance of Cypriot made lace which is being passed off as Italian...

[Get Real!]

Hey, remember when we run into each other in London in 2011?

What were the odds? I wonder if you still work at the same place…

Anyway, hope everything is going great for you Levent!

Don't know much about these Lefkara lace things but my wife has plenty and she sometimes has them all over the house...

[T_C]

Hey, remember when we run into each other in London in 2011?

What were the odds? I wonder if you still work at the same place…

Anyway, hope everything is going great for you Levent!

Don't know much about these Lefkara lace things but my wife has plenty and she sometimes has them all over the house...

Hey GR, same to you my friend. Hope you and your wife are well.

That was quite a coincidence. BHS, my God that place was an absolute shit hole! It was recently embroiled in a scandal when "Sir Philip Green" sold it for a pound and walked away but not before taking a huge chunk out of the pension fund. It doesn't even exist on the high street anymore.

I work in product display and visual merchandising now. I do love it, but I'd quite like to take the next step and get in to window or set design..

[T_C]

Hey again you guys,

I've started designing a website/blog to showcase historic textiles from Cyprus, which I can also use as a reference in my portfolio.

I'm forever working with other peoples products, and though I'm doing it to my standards, it's always someone else's ideas - which sucks!

I'm going to use the textiles I've collected as a source of inspiration, and the idea is to document (photograph) everything, in context, surrounded by other antiques etc...and for it's intended purpose it has to look on point, with great composition, and obviously lot's of historically accurate props. Quite an endeavour...

I have a few random questions;

1) I bought an oil lamp which I later found out to be a vigil lamp (well, what's left of it anyway). I wanted to pimp it out and restore it to former glory before I found out it's religious connotations...so I'm wondering if there's any other way one would use a vigil lamp, or is it simply crass to use one out of context?!

2) I remember my nan using a large and imposing incense burner type device when I would get sick, which she used to burn - overnight! No one seems to remember...anyone know if there's a specific name for it?!

3) Wolves in Cyprus? Were there ever any?

4) What would tableware and cutlery have been like in a late 19th - early 20th century Cyprus?

5) Would it be historically accurate to include Victorian British objects (oil lamps as an example), or were most homewares made in Cyprus?!

Would appreciate any help..

[Get Real!]

3) Wolves in Cyprus? Were there ever any?

Have a look at this image from the Cyprus museum:

They look like middle ages paintings… (maybe earlier)

http://www.cyprusmuseum.org/images/article/image182.jpg

The second one seems to have a wolf-like carnivore chasing after herbivores and there’s no way the Cyprus fox could take down a mouflon, so I guess it's safe to assume that it's a wolf!

Or is that a dog?

[GreekIslandGirl]

3) Wolves in Cyprus? Were there ever any?

Have a look at this image from the Cyprus museum:

They look like middle ages paintings… (maybe earlier)

http://www.cyprusmuseum.org/images/article/image182.jpg

The second one seems to have a wolf-like carnivore chasing after herbivores and there’s no way the Cyprus fox could take down a mouflon, so I guess it's safe to assume that it's a wolf!

Or is that a dog?

They look like dogs to me - I would have thought a small island like Cyprus wouldn't be able to sustain large predators like wolves. So ..... I Googled "wolves in Cyprus" and all I got back was ...... GREY WOLVES Turkish Nationalists ...

[T_C]

Pretty cool GR! I guess they must be dogs given the perspective through which they've been portrayed by the artist.

I have a Lefkara piece with a small needlework patch which depicts an animal howling at a full moon. I knew it was unlikely but thought there may be an urban legend or some myth associated with it.

(I too got the grey wolves articles when I googled 'wolves in Cyprus'.)

[Pyrpolizer]

Hey again you guys,

I've started designing a website/blog to showcase historic textiles from Cyprus, which I can also use as a reference in my portfolio.

I'm forever working with other peoples products, and though I'm doing it to my standards, it's always someone else's ideas - which sucks!

I'm going to use the textiles I've collected as a source of inspiration, and the idea is to document (photograph) everything, in context, surrounded by other antiques etc...and for it's intended purpose it has to look on point, with great composition, and obviously lot's of historically accurate props. Quite an endeavour...

I have a few random questions;

1) I bought an oil lamp which I later found out to be a vigil lamp (well, what's left of it anyway). I wanted to pimp it out and restore it to former glory before I found out it's religious connotations...so I'm wondering if there's any other way one would use a vigil lamp, or is it simply crass to use one out of context?!

2) I remember my nan using a large and imposing incense burner type device when I would get sick, which she used to burn - overnight! No one seems to remember...anyone know if there's a specific name for it?!

3) Wolves in Cyprus? Were there ever any?

4) What would tableware and cutlery have been like in a late 19th - early 20th century Cyprus?

5) Would it be historically accurate to include Victorian British objects (oil lamps as an example), or were most homewares made in Cyprus?!

Would appreciate any help..

1)--> people were using either candles or these vigils everywhere there was no electricity, The ones used at churches were usually decorated, however the ones used at homes were simple glasses filled 3/4 water 1/4 oil.

4)--> I think they were importing chinaware. nevertheless the ones used for cooking were mainly made of brass.

Have a look here
http://kupros1974.weebly.com/kappaupsil ... nueta.html

[Pyrpolizer]

You may also copy paste this google search in your browser

https://www.google.com/search?q=parados ... 8&oe=utf-8