Young maidens, new brides, and young women traditionally conveyed their loves—whether hopeful or hopeless, their expectations, their good tidings, their happiness and unhappiness, their resentment and their incompatibility with their husbands to those around them through the oya they wore. In the Marmara and Aegean regions, for example, floral oya is a phenomenon in and of itself. A woman adorned her head with oya embodying flowers, nature’s loveliest gift to man, the species of the flowers differing depending on her age. Aged grannies used tiny wild flowers, which symbolize the return of dust to dust. Virgins, brides and young women employed roses, arbor roses, carnations, jasmine, hyacinths, violets, daffodils, chrysanthemums and fuchsia in their oya. And all of them carry messages which are conveyed through their shapes and colors. Women reaching forty used a bent tulip. As in the poem ‘Narcissus’ written by the Roman poet Ovid in the 8th century, a woman who wrapped yellow daffodil oya around her head was declaring a hopeless love. A woman whose man had gone abroad to work bound wild rose oya around her head; new brides on the other hand wore oya of roses and arbor roses. Girls engaged to marry the man they love wore oya of pink hyacinths and almond blossoms, while a girl in love wore purple hyacinths. Plum blossom oya was worn by brides. A new bride who has a disagreeable relationship with her husband chose ‘pepper spice’ oya for her head, as if to say ‘my marriage was unhappy from the start’. But if she bound red pepper oya around her head, this was a sign that her relationship with her husband was as spicy as red hot pepper. These are all hand made brooches
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Silver filigree work has its origins in Mesopotamia and Egypt from where it spread into Turkey and other parts of Asia. From Turkey it was exported with Ottoman rule into Yugoslavia and Greece. It is also known as çift işi (tweezer work) and vav işi from the Arabic letter vav which is somewhat similar to “g” and is a frequently used motif.The piece is completed on a flat walnut slab, which has been flamed to burn off the oil and compressed for several days. Every filigree object has a frame (muntach) to which the different motifs are attached. The muntach is made first with a double thickness of wire then fine wire is shaped to make the motifs which fit into the openings. The motifs are not soldered to the frame but welded with a silver and borax mixture. After the motifs are in place the final, smallest, decorations (silver balls etc) are welded on. In the case of hollow ware, the frames and motifs are prepared in sections on the flat surface and then welded together supported by hardwood or metal moulds. These pieces are coming from Turkey, Beypazari.