‘Kiz kilim. Bought in Thessaloniki in 1924 from an elderly Asia Minor refugee. Part of a dowry. It was the custom back then for all the friends of the bride to weave a kilim to which each friend would add some adornment as a memento; a piece of her dress, a lock of her hair, a feather from her favourite bird, a lucky charm.’ This short note handwritten by Chrysiida (Lou) Pierrakou (née Vatikioti) records the origins of this handmade rug and the starting point of its long journey.
According to local custom, kiz kilims were made in Asia Minor as wedding gifts by the friends of the bride who adorned the rugs with decorations of great sentimental value (kiz means ‘girl’ in Turkish). This kilim followed the family on their journey of displacement and was sold in Thessaloniki in 1924 by a male relative of the bride, probably in a time of need.
The rug was bought by Chrysiida (Lou) Vatikioti, wife of diplomat Nikolaos Pierrakos. Fifty years later, in 1974, Lou Pierrakou gifted it to her son’s wife, Maria Pierrakou, along with 5 cushions. The rug travelled from Athens to Paris, where it adorned the house of Maria and Alkis Pierrakos. In 2019, Maria Pierrakou gave the rug to her dear friend, Evi Delli, and the rug returned to Athens. Three different women, unrelated to the original owner, have shared this kilim for the past 100 years and it was special for all three; a gift of love suffused with their own memories and the beautiful thoughts these women have had for the girls who wove it so many years ago in Asia Minor.
