At the Marina, Larnaca

Tristram Ellis was a professional artist who came to Cyprus in 1878 and stayed for a few months with the aim of portraying the new British acquisition for the British public. He published a book titled Twelve Etchings of the Principal Views and Places of Interest in Cyprus (1879). While on the island, he executed more than eighty watercolours of Cyprus which he then exhibited at the Belgian Gallery in London. His view of the marina at Larnaca gives the impression of a near eastern port. One could claim that this is an oriental picture due to the carefully chosen detailing and to what has been included or omitted. The costumes are mostly Ottoman and exotic. There is no doubt that such costumes were seen all over Cyprus. Yet, by the end of the nineteenth century, Larnaca was europeanised to the degree that at least part of its population appeared in European clothes. One of the men in the group by the animals, in a white shirt, straw hat and brown trousers tucked into his boots, wearing a large moustache and a small pointed beard could be English or probably Maltese. Ellis mentions the presence of Maltese workers in the harbour. But surely, the figure framed in the distant archway is a British soldier in his white trousers, red jacket and white pith helmet. There are no women in the seafront; the only female to be seen is seated at her window, high above the road, at a safe distance from the men. She is wearing the white robes of the Moslem tradition even though her face is uncovered and she is seated by a wide open window. This feature points to the relaxation of the Islamic social norms regarding women’s attire and behaviour. The oriental character of the scene is accentuated by the large clay pots used for storing water or olive oil, by the geese, a goat and a sheep brought for sale to the market and by the wooden jetties posting waterside cafes. All this activity is staged against two typical local two-storeyed houses, each with a Turkish kiosk (projecting verandah). The woven matting overhanging indicates the strength of the sun. Perhaps the only undisputable clue that this is Cyprus is the presence of pointed arches which appear all over the island and are remnants of a mixture of the local Gothic and Byzantine architecture adapted to an indigenous style. The artist sees Cyprus as an oriental country and portrays it as such because this is what his audience back in England would like. The exotic and picturesque was much in fashion and sought after by the end of the nineteenth century. Furthermore, the picture reveals the colonial attitudes of the artist who chooses to portray the island totally oriental and, thus, back of beyond in order to justify the beneficial British presence and its future civilizing effects.