TURKISH
CERAMICS
As beautiful art works
there are in Turkish
ceramics and tiles, there
were many rich cultures
that passed down from
generations to generations.
Turkish ceramic art started with
the Uighurs in the 8th century, and
then later the art was influenced by
the Seljuks and became full bloom in
the 13th century.
The Seljuks were skillful in
mosaic tiles and they used these tiles
for interior decoration, domes and
walls.
Turquoise was the most
frequently-used color for glaze
although cobalt blue, eggplant
violet, and sometimes black
were also popular
in the
Anatolian Seljuk period.
SELJUKS CERAMICS
SELJUK CERAMICS
During the principalities period, after
the fall of Seljuks, there was a period of
change in Turkish tile-making.
The Ottomans borrowed heavily from
the Seljukid tile-making tradition while
introducing many new ideas of their own.
This synthesis began in the middle of
the 15th century.
Bursa, İznik, Kütahya and İstanbul
became major centers of production
during the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottomans introduced colored
glazes, in particular the sapphire blue
and golden yellow.
The late 15th and early 16th century
were the beginning of a new period in
Ottoman tile and ceramic-making. The most
important center at this time was İznik.
İznik, one of the capitals of the
Ottoman Empire was the main center where
Ottoman pottery and ceramic work
developed.
The earliest example of the new styles
that emerged in the early Ottoman period
were the 'blue-and-white' İznik ceramics.
İZNİK CERAMICS
In the 15th and 16th
centuries, the most
commonly used patterns
were floral, such as tulips,
carnations, hyacinths,
pomegranate flowers and
other spring blossoms.
The colored glaze technique was formulated
in the 16th century.
İZNİK CERAMICS
The colour range widened.
The cobalt blue-and-white
designs of the early period were
progressively supplemented by
the introduction of turquoise,
shades of green and aubergine
and finally the famous coral red
of the mid-16th century
Around the middle of the 17th
century, the quality of the İznik potteries
affected from the economic distress and
political problems that the Ottoman
Empire had begun to suffer.
By the 18th century, the ceramic
industry in İznik had died out completely
and Kütahya replaced it as the leading
center in Western Anatolia.
KÜTAHYA CERAMICS
Kütahya was the second center in the
development of Ottoman ceramics.
Indeed, Kütahya had been in operation
as a secondary center along with İznik
since the 14th century, but its production
always paled in İznik's brilliance.
KÜTAHYA CERAMICS
18th-century
Kütahya ceramics are
made with a white paste
and are usually
decorated with under
glaze-applied designs in
yellow, red, green,
cobalt blue, turquoise,
black, and violet.
KÜTAHYA CERAMICS
Forms, which can
be elegant, include
thin-walled small
cups, saucers, bowls,
lemon-squeezers,
and ornamental eggs.
KÜTAHYA CERAMICS
KÜTAHYA CERAMICS
KÜTAHYA CERAMICS
Today,
Kütahya has
been revived as
an important
center of tile and
ceramic-making.
In addition, efforts are also being made
in private workshops and educational
institutions in
İznik,
İstanbul,
Kütahya
and
Bursa
to keep the art of traditional Turkish tiles
and ceramics alive and develop it.
We made ceramics at school.
We visited the atelier of Dr. Şerif
Günyar, the lecturer at the
University of Marmara.
We visited the ceramics
museum in İznik