Turkish Prisoner of War beadwork lizard

Hand made lizard constructed with small glass beads using crochet beading method. The upper body is gold with a diamond pattern of light and dark blue, mauve, and white. There is a single red bead centre back and the eyes are also red. The mouth is edged with dark blue beads. Belly, legs and underneath tail are white with the date '1919' written in dark blue beads. Feet are made from loops of beads in the same colours as the upper body. Legs and body are reinforced with wire.

This beadwork lizard was made by a Turkish prisoner held at Ghezira in Cairo and was purchased for the Australian War Records Section on 13 January 1919 as a type example of the beadwork made by Ottoman prisoners of war (POW) in British POW camps in Egypt.

Except for fatigue duties, prisoners were generally not required to work. Making craft items, along with playing sport, games or music helped them pass the time. The prisoners also made these items as a way of making some money to buy extra rations and supplies, such as coffee or tobacco; to barter with other prisoners; or as gifts for friends or family.

The Ottoman Empire stretched from the Balkans to the Sinai, and the soldiers in its armies came from throughout the empire, so the maker may not have been ethnically Turkish. While the bulk of the Memorial's collection, including this lizard, comes from Egypt or Palestine. There were also prison camps in England, Salonika, Cyprus, Mesopotamia, India and France where prisoners made souvenirs.

The lizards were made to either stand alone or to be placed in a large snake's mouth. The body and the legs were made using the single crochet method. Some of the lizards, such as this one have the year of manufacture beaded into the belly in black beads. To maintain their shape, the lizards were stuffed and have a thick wire running along the length of the body, from head to tail. This stops the head and tail from drooping. As they are meant to stand, they also have wires in their legs to support them.