Grinding Sesame seeds

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. This watercolour of a Turkish family is typically oriental. The father is wearing white baggy trousers, his head covered with a scarf tied in the traditional worker’s way, and is watching, or supervising the work of his wife who, sitting on the ground, is turning a stone mill grinding sesame seeds. Travelers often commented on the fact that it was the women of Cyprus who did the hard work and the men very little, spending most of their time at the coffee shops. Sesame was used primarily by the Turks of the island. A small boy, their son, also on the ground, has in front of him a wicker basket and must be the one supplying the mill with sesame. The backdrop is of a village house, the family seated under the cover verandah. House utensils, a clay water pot, a frying pan and a sieve are scattered on the ground. The artist has used his best techniques to produce a vivid, colourful picture.