Ressources numériques en sciences humaines et sociales OpenEdition Nos plateformes OpenEdition Books OpenEdition Journals Hypothèses Calenda Bibliothèques OpenEdition Freemium Suivez-nous

From Spolia to Showcase: A 1st-Century BC Decree in Motion

Nicolas C. Nicolaides

In 1816, “Monsieur Mertrud” a French merchant and antiquities dealer resident in Athens, discovered a 1st-century BC marble stele inscribed with a decree honoring ephebes and their superintendent (kosmetes), reused as spolia in the wall of a house (Fig. 1). In 1821 the stele was acquired by Percy Clinton Smythe, sixth Viscount Strangford (1780–1855), British ambassador at Constantinople (İstanbul), and entered the British Museum in 1864. Tracing the stele’s movement from Athens to Constantinople and London, this post emphasizes the role of Levantine Frank intermediaries in reshaping the modern afterlives of classical objects through pragmatic negotiations that operated between local households, diplomatic networks, and state museums.

Fig. 1. Fragment of the marble block from Athens bearing an inscription that comprises two decrees honoring ephebes and their superintendent (ca. 38–40 BC). London, BM 1864,0220.21. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.

Levantine Franks and Antiquities in Ottoman Athens

André Mertrud, locally known as Mousandreas (a corrupted form of “Monsieur Andreas”), was a French physician, merchant, and antiquities dealer who settled in Athens in 1788 following his marriage to Marguerite Cayrac, herself of Levantine Frank descent (Krakovitch 1985, p. 55–56). Their grand residence, located—according to Manolis Korres (2010, p. 125–128)—at the intersection of modern Adrianou and Navarchou Nikodemou Streets and depicted by Otto Magnus von Stackelberg (1786–1837), reflected the family’s wealth and social standing (Fig. 2). The building shown in Stackelberg’s lithograph, long misidentified as the Logotheti mansion, was identified by Bankel (1986, p. 167, 202) as the Mertrud house on the basis of Haller von Hallerstein’s architectural plans and drawings of the same property. The Mertrud residence likely functioned as a space of antiquarian display comparable to other elite households and foreign consulates in Athens (Petsalis-Diomidis 2018, p. 43).

The Mertruds’ involvement in antiquities drew them into the politics of collecting, as reflected in a 1802 letter by Giovanni-Battista Lusieri (1755–1821), agent of Lord Elgin (1766–1841). In this letter, Lusieri complained that “Monsieur Mertrout [sic]” obstructed the removal of the Parthenon marbles by cutting off the water supply required to wash them (Smith 1916, p. 230).

Fig. 2. Otto Magnus von Stackelberg. Athens. Interior of a Greek house. Stackelberg 1834, pl. 5. Courtesy American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Gennadius Library.

Strangford and the Decree

Despite André Mertrud’s earlier resistance to Elgin’s enterprise, the family’s later actions reveal a pragmatic recalibration rather than ideological opposition, as his descendants later sold the stele, and possibly other ancient artifacts, to one of Elgin’s successors, Lord Strangford. François Pouqueville, French consul at Ali Pasha’s court in Janina (Ioannina), records that the stele had been reused as spolia in the house of “Stamataki-Hadgi” before being discovered and transcribed by Monsieur Mertrud in 1816 (Pouqueville 1820, p. 105). Panagiotis Eustratiades (1815–1888), Ephor General of Antiquities, identifies “Stamataki-Hadgi” as Stamatios Kodras and locates the house on Deka Street, west of the Metropolitan Cathedral (Malouchou 2019, p. 64, n. 25). Pouqueville’s 1820 publication (Fig. 3) transformed the stele from a locally embedded object into a textualized artifact circulating within Western scholarly networks, likely increasing interest, and in 1821 the family sold the stele to Strangford’s agent, Luigi Canquitz of Smyrna (İzmir) (St Clair 2022, p. 250; TNA; Kew FO 352/15 B, 444). Canquitz’s name points to Levantine Frank origins, underscoring the existence of a transregional network of Levantine Frank settlers active in the antiquities trade.

Fig. 3. The stele’s inscribed text as published by Pouqueville in his Voyage dans la Grèce vol. 4, Paris, 1820, p. 105, No XVI. Original copy held by the National Library of the Netherlands.

After Strangford’s death, many of his antiquities entered the British Museum in 1864, among them the Strangford Apollo, an archaic kouros from the island of Anaphi (Fig. 4), and the Strangford Shield, a marble copy of the shield from Pheidias’ statue of Athena Parthenos in the Parthenon. While Strangford’s collection exemplifies the consolidation of antiquities within imperial institutions, the same decades witnessed a parallel redefinition of ancient material within Greece itself.

Fig. 4. The Strangford Apollo (ca. 490 BC). London, BM 1864,0220.1. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.

From Commodities to Symbols of Nationhood

The Greek Enlightenment and the War of Independence fundamentally reshaped perceptions of antiquities. Intellectuals such as Adamantios Koraïs (1748–1833) framed ancient material culture as a cornerstone of national regeneration, while successive revolutionary governments sought to regulate its circulation. Yet ambiguities persisted in practice regarding the status of antiquities, particularly in the blurred boundary between patriotic donation and continued commercial exchange. As Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis (2018, p. 43) observes in the case of Nikolaos Phlogaïtis (1799–1867), a Greek revolutionary and jurist, whose newly acquired collection of sixty vases was donated to the National Museum, founded in 1829 by Governor Ioannis Kapodistrias (1776–1831) on Aegina (Fig. 5). By contrast, André Mertrud’s son Bartholomée sold more than one hundred vases to the same institution in 1831 (Petrakos 2015, p. 46–47, docs. 515–516). This juxtaposition may suggest differing modes of national commitment shaped by distinct social trajectories: on the one hand, an altruistic gesture aligned with emerging ideals of national patrimony; on the other, a Levantine Frank identity grounded in long-standing commercial practice and pragmatic engagement with state institutions. The latter interpretation is consistent with the Mertrud family’s broader activities in early independent Athens, including Petros Mertrud’s advisory role in 1831 to Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, Duchess of Plaisance (1785–1854), on land acquisitions in the city (Kampouroglou 1923–1925, p. 207).

Fig. 5. The Kapodistrian Orphanage, Aegina (1828–1829), where the National Library and the Archaeological Museum were also housed. Photograph by John Rigas, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Conclusion

The trajectory of this 1st-century BC stele, from spolia in an Athenian house to a British Museum artifact, encapsulates the shifting meanings of antiquities in the late Ottoman and early modern Mediterranean. Mediated by Franco-Athenian families, Levantine agents, and diplomatic networks, the object’s movement reflects the transformation of ancient material from commodity to institutionalized heritage. In this context, the Mertruds emerge as key intermediaries, whose antiquarian and commercial strategies illuminate the entanglement of commerce, politics, and identity at the threshold of Greek independence.

Acknowledgments

This research was largely conducted at the Gennadius Library of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, supported by the 2023–2024 Kathryn and Peter Yatrakis Fellowship. I am grateful to Maria Georgopoulou and Irini Solomonidi for their guidance, and to the library staff for their support and hospitality. I also thank Joshua Williams, whose enthusiasm for epigraphy first introduced me to the field, and Matthew Peebles for comments on an earlier draft. For scholarly advice and other support, I thank Jackson Noah Miller, and Mercedes Volait.

Sources

Hansgeorg Bankel (ed.), Carl Haller von Hallerstein in Griechenland, 1810–1817: Architekt, Zeichner, Bauforscher. Berlin, Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1986.

Dimitrios G. Kampouroglou, Μελέται καί ἔρευναι: ὉἍγιος Ἠλίας τοῦ σταροπάζαρου καὶ ἡ θυρεοκόσμητος τοι χογραφίατου, Τὰ Ἀττικά, Ἡ Δούκισσα τῆς Πλακεντίας [Studies and Research: Saint Elias of the Staropazaro and Its Heraldic Wall Painting]; Attica; The Duchess of Plaisance], Athens, Hestia, 1923–1925.

Odile Krakovitch (ed.), Consulats de France en Grèce et en Turquie : Correspondance des consuls d’Athènes et Nègrepont (1684–1791). Mémoires et documents des consulats de Grèce et de Turquie (1740–1870), Paris, Archives Nationales, 1985.

Vasileios C. Petrakos, Ημερολόγιο Αρχαιολογικό. Τα χρόνια του Καποδίστρια. 1828–1832 3 [Archaeological Journal. The Years of Kapodistrias, 1828–1832 vol. 3], Athens, Hē en Athēnais Archaiologikē Hetaireia, 2015.

François C. H. L. Pouqueville, Voyage dans la Grèce, volume 4, Paris, Firmin Didot, Père et Fils, 1820.

Otto Magnus von Stackelberg, La Grèce : Vues pittoresques et topographiques, Paris, 1834.

References

Manolis Korres, “Πολεοδομικός ιστός – Οδικό δίκτυο και οικοδομικές νησίδες επί των χαρτών Fauvel και Κλεάνθους-Schaubert” [Urban Fabric: Street Network and Building Blocks in the Maps of Fauvel and Kleanthes–Schaubert], in Αττικής οδοί 2. Οι πρώτοι χάρτες της πόλεως των Αθηνών [Attic Roads 2: The First Maps of the City of Athens], ed. M. Korres, Athens, Melissa, 2010, p. 120–153.

Georgia E. Malouchou, “Οἰκίες τῶν παλαιῶν Ἀθηνῶν τῶν πρὸ τῆς Ἐπαναστάσεως χρόνων Σημείωμα” [Houses of Old Athens in the Years before the Revolution], Γραμμάτειον 8, p. 61–66, 2019.

Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis, “Local Engagements with Ancient Greek Vases in Ottoman and Revolutionary Greece, c. 1800–1833,” in Classics in extremis: The Edges of Classical Reception, ed. E. Richardson, London, Bloomsbury, 2018, p. 35–58.

Arthur H. Smith, “Lord Elgin and his collection,” The Journal of Hellenic Studies 36, 1916. p. 163–372.

William St. Clair, Who Saved the Parthenon? A New History of the Acropolis Before, During and After the Greek Revolution, Cambridge, Open Book publishers, 2022.

A Moving Embroidery: From 1796 Vienna to Present-day Sofia

Artemis Yagou

The embroidery is so exquisite, so rich in colour and detail, that it seems to capture a moment of profound spiritual drama. The focus of this post is no ordinary textile, it is a magnificent ecclesiastical embroidery with a complex trajectory, involving various people, localities, and beliefs. (Fig. 1) It is an Epitaphios, a large veil depicting the body of the crucified Christ, traditionally carried in procession during the Orthodox Good Friday services. 168 centimetres wide and 130 centimetres tall, crafted from silk, shimmering gold threads, and sparkling silver sequins, it is set against a rose-coloured silk background that catches the light, creating dramatic reflections and shadows. The background creates a harmonious contrast to the shapes and colours of the embroidered parts, in particular the human figures: the mourning Virgin Mary and Maria Magdalene, the disciples and angels surrounding the body of Christ. Above them, a large cross with the symbols of the martyrdom (crown of thorns, lance, and sponge) dominates the centre of the composition. This central theme is surrounded by a large arch; there are also five smaller arches with heads of angels; above the main arch, the sun and the moon can be discerned among clouds.  The figures of the four Evangelists are enclosed in Baroque-style medallions on the left and right sections of the Epitaphios. (Fig. 2) Above these, there are four miniature representations, to the right Jerusalem and the Resurrection and to the left the Golgotha and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where the Holy Grave lies. Various liturgical objects, such as hanging oil-lamps and myrrh containers complement the scene. Finally, a border with an elaborate, highly stylised floral decoration in Baroque style encloses the whole synthesis.

Fig. 1. The 1796 Epitaphios embroidered by Marina Ruheland in Vienna. Sofia, National Museum of History. Photo by the author.
Fig. 2. Detail of the 1796 Epitaphios top right corner. Sofia, National Museum of History. Photo by the author.

The art of ecclesiastic embroidery was practiced widely in professional workshops situated in bustling urban centres of the Ottoman Empire, such as Istanbul, Trebizond, Thessaloniki, Ioannina, and Adrianople; some works still survive in churches and museums in Greece and elsewhere. This Epitaphios however, as the signature and Latin inscription embroidered at its lower right part show, was made in Vienna by Marina Ruheland in 1796. Marina Ruheland belonged to a family of professional embroiderers and her exceptional skills were highly valued. Thanks to Ruheland’s reputation, members of the flourishing Greek communities of the Habsburg Empire as well as wealthy Greeks from the Ottoman Empire were regular patrons of her workshop, commissioning works to be dedicated to churches or monasteries. In this case, the donor’s identity is revealed by an embroidered inscription in Greek at the lower part of the object: “The present Epitaphios was dedicated to the St Athanasios metropolitan church of Ioannina by Mr Panagiotis Hadji Nikou for the salvation of his soul, year 1796.” The artefact was a custom-made product, commissioned by Panagiotis Hadji Nikou, an important personality of eighteenth-century Greek diaspora. A surviving portrait of Hadji Nikou shows him as a sumptuously dressed, solemn, and imposing figure. (Fig. 3) His family originated from Konitsa, but he was born in Ioannina in 1709. Hadji Nikou was successfully involved in the fur and leather trade in Moldavia and Wallachia, and event­ually settled in Braşov, in the Habsburg-controlled Principality of Transylvania, where he died in his late eighties in 1796 or 1797. He supported the Greek community of Braşov but also his native Epirus through various generous donations and endowments. His grave is preserved in the cemetery of the Greek Orthodox church of the Holy Trinity in Braşov, where he had also donated a Vienna-made Epitaphios in 1777.

Fig. 3. Portrait of wealthy benefactor Panagiotis Hadji Nikou, Church of the Holy Trinity in Braşov, painter unknown. Photo by the author.

Placing his order again to a Viennese workshop in 1796 was a strategic decision. It not only guaranteed craftsmanship of the highest quality, but was also aligned with the sophisticated Baroque fashion of the time and, furthermore, could serve as a lasting monument to the donor’s wealth and piety. Commissioning a Vienna Epitaphios was compatible with Hadji Nikou’s profile as a hard-working and successful man who had amassed a great fortune away from his homeland. It was the ultimate status symbol, seamlessly blending his professional success with his spiritual devotion to his homeland. When the Epitaphios would reach its intended destination, the church of St Athanasios in Ioannina, it would constitute an enduring tribute to Hadji Nikou’s high social standing. However, given that he died either in late 1796, the year when the embroidery was completed, or very soon after, it is questionable whether the artefact ever reached the Ioannina church to which it was dedicated and where it was meant to be placed. The object is currently held at the National Museum of History in Sofia (Inv. No. 29237). According to the museum’s documentation, it originated from the St Naum Monastery in Ohrid (today in North Macedonia). How and when the embroidery travelled from Vienna to Ohrid and eventually reached the Bulgarian museum in Sofia is unclear.

Embroideries were particularly apposite as donations because they enjoyed increased visibility during religious services, which were among the best-attended gatherings by Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire. Although the 1796 embroidery is a unique, bespoke item produced for a specific customer, it also acquired a broader, public character, due to its use in the communal space of the church. Despite its high cost and splendid features, it would be accessible to the wider group of ordinary people that constituted the congregation. The representations of figures in particular emphasised emotions and helped cultivate a deep spiritual bond with the viewers of the work. (Fig. 4)

Fig. 4. Expressively embroidered figures could generate strong emotions among viewers. Detail of the 1796 Epitaphios. Photo by the author.

The practice of object dedication to a church bestowed great prestige upon the donors and was directly connected with their personal honour and status in the community. In the second half of the eighteenth century, charity was established as one of the values of the bourgeoisie. The increasing popularity and diffusion among Greek Orthodox commissioners of embroideries made outside their local communities manifested in particular openness and a desire for renewal. Religious art is by definition conservative, as it expresses dogma and serves worship, but at the same time it can be innovative to some degree by following the trends of secular art and is transformed through them. All forms of ecclesiastical vestments and embroideries are subject to fashions and trends – in a different way than secular clothes but within the same general framework. Although inherited styles were still prevailing in eighteenth century ecclesiastical art, donations imported from the West contributed to the movement of ideas and the assimilation of novel features, thus encouraging the cultural osmosis of traditional and new elements.

The Epitaphios of 1796 is a profound material document capturing the impact of things that move and become carriers of diverse meanings. For the donor, the hybrid nature of this object reflected complex strategies of adaptation and social positioning. He can be perceived as an individual moving not only across physical borders, but also transgressing mental and psychological barriers and embracing the latest fashion while at the same time securing his spiritual legacy. In the community, this opulent work would be accessible to everyone and members of the congregation could forge a powerful emotional connection with it. The superb artefact would serve the spiritual needs of the community and animate the imagination of its members. The Epitaphios of 1796 is therefore an artefact that moved across different territories and cultures and brings together diverse spheres of human activity, such as religion, commerce, and art. Embodying multilayered historical evidence, this object is a powerful material testimony where­ devotion, wealth, and craftsmanship merge. Last but not least, this Epitaphios is a moving object in the sense of evoking strong emotions today, of touching and inspiring us.

References

Athanassios E. Karathanassis, L’hellénisme en Transylvanie: L’activité culturelle, nationale et religieuse des compagnies commerciales helléniques de Sibiu et de Brașov aux XVIIIe–XIXe siècles, Thessaloniki: Institute for Balkan Studies, 1989.

Ralitsa Rousseva (ed.), ‘145. Epitaphios’, National Museum of History: Catalogue, Sofia: National Museum of History/Plovdiv: Pygmalion Publishers, 2006, p. 143–144.

Manolis G. Varvounis and Nadia Macha-Bizoumi, ‘Συνέχειες και Ασυνέχειες στην Ελληνική Παράδοση των Ιερατικών Αμφίων (19ος–20ος αι.)’ [Continuities and Discontinuities in the Greek Tradition of Hieratic Vestments (19th–20th c.)], Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Neohellenic Studies of the European Society of Neohellenic Studies, Thessaloniki, 2–5 October 2014, Athens: Evropaiki Etaireia Neoellinikon Spoudon, 2015, p. 125–146.

Eleni Vlachopoulou-Karabina, ‘Ο Άγνωστος Επιτάφιος του Ιερού Μητροπολιτικού ναού Αγίου Αθανασίου Ιωαννίνων, Εργαστήριο Βιέννης, 1796’ [The Unknown Epitaphios of the Holy Metropolitan Church of St. Athanasios of Ioannina, Vienna Workshop, 1796], Epirotika Chronika 33, 1998–1999, p. 243–249.

Artemis Yagou, Products, Users, and Popular Luxury in Early Modern Greece, London and New York: Routledge, 2024.

The Circuitous Journey of the Greek Knitting Sheath

Flavia Nessi-Yazitzoglou

During the 19th and 20th centuries, Greece found itself at the crossroads of numerous influences and traditions regarding knitting techniques, coming from both the East and the West. A close look at the history of sock knitting using a set of four or five needles brings to attention the fact that in northern Greece pastoral women still knitted in the Eastern way, an archaic method descending from the Arab world used for making heavy handspun woollen socks, whereas on the islands women were knitting with the yarn wrapped around the neck or pinned to the bodice, which were still old-fashioned knitting postures, in order to produce more refined cotton or handspun monochrome silk stockings. In Europe already by the 18th century cottage-industry knitters were knitting in a more professional way using knitting sheaths, small every-day tools that consist of a wooden or metal staff usually between 25 – 35 cm long that serves to immobilize one of the knitting needles during the sock knitting work.

Yet, the arrival of these tools in Greece came much later on, in the 19th century at a time when their use was declining in Europe. The industrialization of yarn processing and the arrival of novel women’s magazines designed to explain all the available stitches with practical instructions announced the emergence of new ways of knitting in Greece. Rapidity and precision of execution in a more scientific type of knitting suddenly became new features that prompted Greek knitters to adopt European knitting sheaths that they christened kaltsovelona [καλτσοβελόνα, sock needle] or kaltsoxylo [καλτσόξυλο, sock stick], clearly referencing their use in producing socks.

On the Ionian Islands, to the contrary, the knitting sheath went by the name rokoxylo [ροκόξυλο] or kaltsounoroka [καλτσουνόροκα] designating a type of wooden distaff used for making socks, which adds yet another dimension to the tool. A parallel can be drawn between the Ionian knitting sheaths in the shape of standing women and small hand distaffs from Calabria, which bear a striking resemblance to one another even though the two tools are different in nature. (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1. Hand distaff in the shape of a standing woman, three pieces, Calabria, early 20th century, carved-in-the-round coloured fruitwood, h. 29.7 cm, Mucem Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations, Marseille

The oldest knitting sheaths found in Greece date back to about 1830-1850 and appear to be extremely valuable silver-plated objects, that flaunt the craftsmanship of professional silversmiths. They were found mainly on the Ionian Islands, although we cannot validate they correspond to what was a local production, or if they were imported from Epirus instead, a region which was famed for the excellence of its silversmithing. Perhaps the Vlach tradesmen with their very efficient commercial network contributed to the introduction of these precious objects from Central Europe to Greece through the Balkan roads as seems to confirm some Slavic inscriptions found on certain tools. (Fig. 2) But the silver-plated neoclassical Ionian sheaths were from the very start intended as elegant embroidery tools designed for the needlework of upper-class ladies.

Fig. 2. Extension sheaths (details), Left: inscribed and dated AΣΣ 1839 [ASS 1839], Right: Serbian, inscribed with three names.Silver-plated slender tube type, h. 29 cm B, h. 39.5 cm (private collections).

However, the majority of Greek knitting sheaths are wood-carved tools probably introduced in Greece at the end of 19th century by sailors who were famous for their prowess in woodworking. Due to the absence of any satisfactory written sources, researchers can merely speculate on its beginnings, yet it is quite certain that the emergence of these tools in insular Greece issued from commercial trade along the Italian and British shipping routes as suggested by the similarities between the fish models on certain British knitting sheaths, mainly produced in Wales and Scotland, and their Greek counterparts. (Fig. 3)

Fig. 3. Knitting sheath in the shape of a fish, Greek, inscribed and dated Εριφὐλη Λ. Κομνηνού 1909 [Erifyli L. Komninou 1909], chip-carved wood, h. 29.5 cm (private collection).

According to the account offered by Gerassimos Papatrechas, one of the last woodcarvers of Xiromero, we know that the sheaths were also called filakissia (φυλακίσσια), “prison-made,” which in turn informs as to the origin of their production. Thousands of identical models of tools have been  carved by inmates in Greek prisons over a 50 to 60-year period (c. 1890/1900-1950). It is most likely in prison that Greek craftsmen came into contact with European sailors and shared their common knowledge in order to develop the prototypes of these new tools gradually advancing towards the implementation of their own innovations. For example, the Corfu prison fashioned its own kind of engraved stamp bearing the name of the establishment, ΚΕΡΚΥΡΑ [Corfu], a sort of registered trademark that testified to the authenticity and origin of its entire output. It undoubtedly answered to a pragmatic necessity to supply homemakers from all over Greece with practical implements. (Fig. 4)

Fig. 4. The Greek Convict Prison at Nauplia by R. Hardie, Surgeon, R.N., sketches, from The Illustrated London News (18 October 1890).

In Corfu we found another category of wood-carved knitting sheaths, different from the more elaborate models produced at the same time for the islanders, which corresponded to the first local attempt to create a tourist souvenir industry for travellers on the Grand Tour. They were distinguished by the classic ΚΕΡΚΥΡΑ prison stamp with multilingual inscriptions. (Fig. 5)

Fig. 5. Knitting sheath in the shape of a blade, mid-20th century, relief-carved and carved-in-the-round wood, Front and reverse sides depicting a woman in traditional costume, the Tree of Life and the emblem of Corfu, inscribed Ricordo / Souvenir DU CORFU / ΠΙΣΤΙΣ ΕΡΩΣ ΕΛΠΙΣ [Faith love hope;  ΑΙΚΑΤΕΡΙΝΗ ΠΑΔΟΒΑ [Aikaterini Padova], h. 32 cm (private collection)

Greek carved wooden knitting sheaths, through their beauty and diversity of sculptural decoration, reveal the complexity of their usage. If in Europe the variations in form of those tools reflected mainly regional specificities, in Greece the spectrum of morphological differences corresponded to another logic, that is to morph into clever “multitasking” tools used to measure, draw and calibrate, not to mention their role in various small-scale weaving techniques such as braiding, finger looping and card weaving which were instrumental in carrying out the domestic handiwork that clothed the family. (Fig. 6)

Fig. 6. Drawings of a woman table-braiding and finger-loop braiding by Nikos Angelidis, 2019, black pencil on paper (private collection).

According to their morphology acquired through the carving process the Greek sheaths could be employed in a variety of ways, depending on whether women were using the upper or lower part of the tool. In general, the upper part of the tool was carved in the round and pierced to accommodate a needle for knitting, and the lower half of the tool was immobilized, either under the armpit or in the waistband of the apron. But the upper part of the instrument could also be used as a handle and its lower section could be used as a weaving sword or beater. Yet there are other case scenarios in which the sheath served as an autonomous tool, free of a grip, thus allowing it to be propelled by its own weight under the effect of the rotation of twisting thread in plaiting, braiding and knotting techniques, or else it could slide along the surface of a fabric to trace or mark sewing measurements.

The Greek knitting sheaths were more innovative in their conception than their fellow European models. By combining several distinct functions in one instrument, they allied tradition with modernity by bringing technological advances to ancestral know-how.

References

Angeliki Hatzimichali, La sculpture sur bois, Collection de l’Hellénisme contemporain, Athens, 1950.

Kitsos A. Makris, Λαϊκά και μεταβυζαντινά ξυλόγλυπτα [Popular and Post-Byzantine Greek woodcarving], Athens: National Organization of Greek Handicrafts, 1962.

James Norbury, Traditional Knitting Patterns: From Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, Italy and Other European Countries, New York: Dover, 1973.

Irena Turnau, “La bonneterie en Europe, du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle,”  Annales. Économies, sociétés, civilisations 26, no. 5, 1971, p. 1118-1132.

Irena Turnau, “History of Folk Knitting in Europe: A Framework for Research,” Textile History 17, no. 2, 1986, p. 167-180.    

An Iznik Tile, Greek Collectors, and the Appreciation of Asia Minor Pottery

Mina Moraitou

An unusual Iznik tile displayed at the Benaki Museum has an interesting acquisition history that dates back to the late Ottoman era. Its journey, from Berlin, Alexandria, and finally Athens, reflects an interconnected story of European collecting, concepts on Ottoman art and cultural exchange in the modern period.

The 17th-century octagonal Iznik tile depicts a walled enclosure, within which a series of domed buildings are set around a large, prominent tree (fig. 1). The building on the left, surmounted by three crosses, most likely represents a church, while the building on the right seems to represent a mosque. The composition is framed by two large red tulips and four unclear characters between the upper branches of the tree. The tile belongs to a broader artistic tradition associated with pilgrimage, offering a visual representation of a holy site.

Fig. 1. Octagonal tile, Iznik, second half of the 17th century, diam. 32,5 cm. Benaki Museum 87.

As one traces the story of this tile, its origins can be found within the Ottoman Empire, where it was acquired by Dr Kurt Zander (1860-1926), a Berlin-based government councillor and avid collector. Zander’s fascination with Oriental art began during his extensive travels, starting in the late 1880s. In 1896, he permanently moved to Istanbul, where he served as director of the Ottoman Anatolian Railway and headed the Commission of the Baghdad Line. Like many European collectors of his time, Zander was captivated by the perceived “exoticism” of the Orient. The 19th century witnessed a surge of European interest in the East. With growing exposure through trade, travel, diplomacy, and military campaigns, Europeans increasingly recognized the cultural and artistic richness of lands beyond their own. Oriental art became highly admired, and collecting such objects became a fashionable pursuit among the European elite.

Dr Zander’s collection, which steadily expanded throughout his lifetime, was auctioned in 1914, a year before his death. In the opening pages of the auction catalogue, it was noted that his frequent travels to the Orient had allowed him to acquire many remarkable art objects at a time when such treasures were still undervalued by European collectors. In the auction catalogue the tile was described as a remarkable 16th-century octagonal tile with red, blue, and green decoration, representing an Armenian church (Collection Dr Kurt Zander 1914, n° 417, p. 16). This description is particularly intriguing because, unlike other items in catalogue, it was not attributed to Iznik nor was an alternative provenance suggested (fig. 2). The possible reason for this lies in the challenges faced by 19th-century art experts in identifying the origins of Iznik ceramics. At the time, attribution was often based on inscriptions, themes of decoration, or the location where a piece was discovered. Publications from that period reveal how scholars and collectors often misattributed ceramics, assuming multiple production centers, such as Kütahya, Damascus, Rhodes or Iran, for what we now recognize as Iznik ceramics. In reality, these wares were predominantly produced in the town of Iznik in western Anatolia, a major centre of ceramic production during the height of the Ottoman Empire. The misattribution of ceramics reflects the evolving understanding of Islamic art during the 19th century as Western scholars gradually uncovered the full complexity of Ottoman artistic traditions and cultural influences (Moraitou 2017).

Fig. 2: Illustration page from the auction catalogue of Dr Kurt Zander’s collection. Benaki Museum Library.

Following the sale, the story leads to Alexandria, where the tile became part of the collection of Michael Sinadinos, a prominent figure in the city’s thriving Greek community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like many members of the Greek diaspora in Egypt, Sinadinos was deeply involved in trade and commerce. He also played a vital role in the cultural and social life of the Greek community, serving as president of the Greek Community of Alexandria from 1911 until his death in 1919. At the turn of the 20th century, Alexandria was a cosmopolitan city where cultural influences from Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa converged. Within this vibrant urban environment, wealthy foreign residents, including many Greeks, became important patrons of the arts. Sinadinos was no exception, and he amassed a collection of Iznik tiles, including the octagonal tile. Whether he acquired the tile directly from the auction in Berlin or through one of Alexandria’s many antique dealers remains unclear.

The next step in the tile’s journey came with the inheritance of the Sinadinos tiles by his daughter, Maria, who was married to Alexandros Benakis a member of the Benaki family and an avid admirer of ceramics. His collection in Alexandria, which included both Chinese ceramics and around 100 pieces of Iznik pottery, became one of the foundations of what would later become the Benaki Museum’s Islamic collection. After his death in 1922, the tile was exhibited in Egypt’s first exhibition of Islamic art, which showcased items primarily from private collections (Migeon 1925, no. 4, p. 7; Migeon 1925, pl. 25). The exhibition, which opened to the public in 1925, was modelled on similar exhibitions in London and Paris. Around half of the exhibits were ceramics, and the catalogue noted that the selection of ceramics from Asia Minor—mostly Iznik—was particularly memorable (fig. 3 & 4).

Fig. 3 (Left), Pierre Racine, Exposition d’art musulman, Alexandria 1925 (Benaki Museum – Photographic Archives). Fig. 4 (Right), Cover of the exhibition’s catalogue (Benaki Museum – Library).

During the early 20th century, Greek collectors had developed a strong appreciation for Iznik ceramics. Although it may seem unusual for Greeks to be attracted to Ottoman art, some collectors, particularly those living in cosmopolitan centres like Alexandria, adopted the tastes of their European counterparts, who had long be fascinated by the arts of Asia. The familiarity and admiration for Iznik designs among Greek collectors could be traced back to the influence of these motifs on 19th-century Greek art, such as textiles, architectural decoration or woodwork.

After 1926 Antonis Benakis, Alexandros’ older brother and founder of the Benaki Museum, gradually relocated to Athens with the family’s art collection. Antonis had plans to establish a museum in Athens, and Iznik ceramics were one of the highlights of this vision. In a 1927 letter to George Eumorfopoulos, a leading collector of Chinese art, Antonis mentioned that the ceramics his late brother Alexandros had gathered would form the core of the museum he was planning and intended to donate to the Greek nation. When the museum opened in 1931, the tile was part of the Islamic collection, which was housed in two galleries on the ground floor and today it is exhibited among the rest of the Iznik collection at the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art.

References

Collection Dr. Kurt Zander geh. Regierungsrat Berlin: Art Mahométan tapis persans faïences et arts textiles de l’Orient, manuscrits persans. Sculptures Grecques et Romaines terres cuites. Amsterdam: Frederik Muller, 1914.

Gaston Migeon, Exposition d’art musulman, Les Amis de l’art, exhibition catalogue, Alexandria : Grammata, 1925.

Gaston Migeon, Exposition d’art musulman, Les Amis de l’art, album, Paris : Albert Morancé, 1925.

Mina Moraitou, Iznik a fascination with ceramics, exhibition catalogue, Athens : Benaki Museum, 2017.