First World War Turkish Prisoner of War Crochet Beaded Snake and Lizard

During Captivity Ottoman (Turkish) prisoners used small glass beads to fashion items such as snakes and lizards, to sell to earn money to supplement their rations and purchase useful items. This beadwork snake would have been made by an Ottoman prisoner of war (POW) in a British POW camp, probably in Egypt. Prisoners were generally not required to work so making craft items helped them pass the time as well as the opportunity to make some money or create gifts for friends or family.
Although many of the snakes produced in the camps have 'TURKISH PRISONER' beaded into their bellies the maker may not have been ethnically Turkish as the Ottoman Empire stretched from the Balkans to the Sinai, and the soldiers in its armies came from throughout the empire.
The snakes usually have a variation of a zig zag design or a diamond design on their backs. The bellies are generally white, often with text beaded in black or dark blue. Occasionally other colours were used. Some have decorative patterns, such as diamonds or triangles between the words on their bellies.
The snakes were made using single stitch beaded crochet. To make them beads had to be strung in order of the design before crocheting commenced. Some of the smaller beaded crochet items could be made with all the beads strung at once. The larger snakes had to be strung and made in sections, fastening the new thread to the worked one as the work progressed.
The snakes were stuffed with whatever materials were available, such as cotton thread, rags, or horsehair to keep their shape. The mouths are plain thread crocheted into two triangles that are attached to the snake. Snakes were amongst the most popular items made and sold. They were considered to bring good luck in parts of Southeast Europe with rituals and superstitions surrounding them, which could be why they were a popular subject. Their shape may have been another reason they were popular with POWs as they are essentially a long tube, which is relatively easy to make in crochet beadwork.