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. 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

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,KütahyaandBursa 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