Marmara (Island): Pratsos (modern Gündoğdu), blessing of the nets
| Department | Archive |
|---|---|
| Collection | BSA SPHS Image Collection |
| Reference No. | BSA SPHS 01/4664.9610 |
| Level | Item |
| Description | Film negative, approximately quarter plate size, an original negative. |
| Condition | Negative faded. |
| Dimensions | 10.5 x 8 cm |
| Place |
Pratsos |
| Dates | 1907 |
| Donor/Creator |
Hasluck, Dr Frederick William |
| Project | Cyzicus, Mysia and Bithynia |
| Scope and Content | Part of a group of images from Hasluck's travels to the Marmara Islands in 1907. The original description in the SPHS register reads: "Marmara Islands (Proconnesus Marmara) Prastos, blessing the nets" |
| Notes | Dates to the travels of Hasluck to the Marmara Islands in 1907: F. W. Hasluck, 'The Marmara Islands' JHS Vol. 29 (1909), pp. 6-18. The explorations of the neighbouring islands was a follow-on from the Cyzicus survey conducted by Hasluck of the surroundings of the ancient city. The 1913 slide catalogue published in the JHS indicates that this image is published as plate III in Hasluck's article, but this is incorrect. The image was also used for the 1936 Exhibition of Minoan Civilization and the first 50 years work of the BSA at Burlington House in London (335g). The image appears in the SPHS Slide Set (no author), ca. 1932. The Greek Church, slide number 34. |
| Further information | Scenes from Modern Greek Life Historic images often show scenes from modern life. These are not modern in the current sense, but reflect a time they were taken. Some were captured unintentionally, recording an aspect of contemporary activity while composing scenes of other interest such as ancient or historical monuments. However, many were taken with the express purpose of recording folk life, part of a trend in the latter part of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The process of categorizing these ethnographic scenes of everyday life in image collections reflected contemporary folklore categories: material life (eg. domestic architecture, dress, craft and agricultural production), social life (eg. games, festivals) and spiritual life (eg. superstitions, religious activities). However, a significant idea encapsulated in these ethnographic images was the 19th-century concept of continuity - relics or survivals - of ancient social life and practices in the present. In Greece, this concept of continuity was notably promoted by the scholar of folklore (laographia), Nikolaos Politis, and held by many British classicists and archaeologists of the time. In fact, the Irish classical scholar, J.P. Mahaffy encapsulated this idea in his 1876 travel book, Rambles and Studies in Greece: "Everywhere the modern Greek town is a mere survival of the old". These survivals were often linked to classical literature, cult and myth by scholars of the Greek world. It is clear that these images are not simply quaint historical scenes, but they embody principles inherent in the discipline of Hellenic Studies in the recent past. |
| Reference |
1912 JHS 32: 8th accession to 1904 slide catalogue. lxxvii.SPHS 9610. Link to article 1913 JHS 33: Catalogue of Slides. 17.SPHS 9610. Link to article 1913 JHS 33: Catalogue of Slides. 144.SPHS 9610. Link to article 1936 Exhibition Catalogue. 76.No. 335g. |