İznik ceramics
İznik ceramics is the name given to the glazed pottery produced between the 15th and 17th centuries in the western Anatolian city of İznik . With substantial sponsorship from the Ottoman court and inspiration from Chinese blue and white style porcelain , which was imported in large quantities, it soon became known and appreciated throughout the Ottoman Empire and beyond.
In the 16th century, the color palette of the initially monochrome ceramic was supplemented by pale violet, turquoise and sage green, later by the characteristic bolus red and an emerald green. As a building decoration, İznik tiles have now been used to clad the walls in numerous buildings, including in over forty mosques in Istanbul alone , such as the Rüstem Pasha and Sultan Ahmed Mosques , for the external cladding of the Dome of the Rock, which was restored under Suleyman I. in Jerusalem, but also in palaces and mausoleums, especially in the circumcision salon of the Topkapi seraglio . Due to the exemplary character of Ottoman architecture, interiors clad with tiles were also extremely popular in the Balkans , Egypt and the Maghreb .
In the 17th century, due to increased price pressure, insufficient support from the ruling house and the lack of new construction contracts, production began to decline. The city of Kütahya , east of İznik, then became the new center of ceramic production in Asia Minor.
History of İznik ceramics
Seljuk pottery and Chinese influence
İznik ceramics initially followed Seljuk models in the early 14th century . This was followed by a phase of imitation of Chinese porcelain, which was highly regarded by the Ottoman sultans. However, the ceramists did not succeed in producing real porcelain because the raw material was of insufficient quality and the temperature necessary for firing porcelain was not reached; Instead, the vessels are made from chips , mainly made of quartz and glass . In the middle of the 16th century at the latest, however, a typical İznik style developed, which was clearly differentiated from the earlier models, developed new forms and motifs and gave up symmetrical design in favor of freer and livelier pictorial compositions.
This development process can be differentiated into different phases; the goods produced in it were mostly given the often misleading name of the town where European collectors discovered or acquired the first specimens. The chronology of ceramics is largely due to Arthur Lane , who, based on previous studies by Gaston Migeon, Robert Lockhart Hobson and Katharina Otto-Dorn, showed that almost all of the goods found in such different places were originally made in İznik.
Milet ware (15th century)
The earliest form of Ottoman ceramics was named after a shard find in Miletus that was discovered by Friedrich Sarre in the early 1930s during his excavations. Excavations by Oktay Aslanapa in İznik in the 1960s showed that the city was a production center for ceramics even before the blue-and-white chips were made and that the fragments discovered by Sarre in Miletus were apparently originally made there. Further production facilities of this type, which is widespread throughout Asia Minor, were Kütahya , Akçaalan and apparently also the city of Pergamon , whose goods still clearly show the influence of Byzantine sgraffito ceramics. The Miletian ware is based on red body with a white slurry coat , which was covered with vegetable or geometric motifs in cobalt blue, sometimes also in black, turquoise, purple or green.
Chips
In the late 15th century, the red clay body was replaced by a dense and hard frit body. The manufacturing process, in which, for the first time in the history of Islamic ceramics, a body with a pure white surface was produced, and the motifs also differ significantly from the earlier Miletian ware. The ratio between quartz, finely ground glass frits and clay comes very close to the information given by the Persian potter Abū'l-Qāsim about the mixture used in Kashan and was about 10: 1: 1; overall, however, the proportion of glass in İznik ceramics was somewhat higher. The material also contained small amounts of lead oxide . The ceramic vessels were rarely made from one piece, but usually composed of several individual parts.
The clay body was poured with a white engobe , which was composed similarly to the body itself, but was cleaned more carefully and finely ground to avoid color contamination. Organic binders such as tragacanth were probably also used. The color pigments were mixed with glass frits and then applied to the objects either freely or using stencils. In the early phases of İznik ceramics, only cobalt blue was used for this, which was probably imported from Qamsar . From 1520 onwards, in addition to blue, there was also occasional turquoise made of copper oxide in the color palette, shortly thereafter purple made of manganese oxide and celadon green , gray and black. The bright bolus red typical of İznik goods was finally introduced in 1560. This innovative strength can be traced back on the one hand to the influence of leading artists of the Nakkaşhane, the Ottoman court atelier, in particular Şahkulu and Kara Memi, on the other hand to the new requirements of large tile ensembles, which required different shapes and colors than small-format vessels.
The glaze applied to the colors consisted of 25 to 30 percent lead oxide , 45 to 55 percent quartz, 8 to 14 percent sodium oxide and 4 to 7 percent tin oxide , which apparently was not, as previously usual, in ground, but was added in dissolved form. The degree of firing of the ceramic was up to 900 ° C.
Blue and white goods (1480–1520)
In the last decades of the 15th century, the potters in İznik began producing blue and white chips. The motifs of these objects were based on models from the court studios in Istanbul and corresponded to the taste of the ruling elite, who ordered the ceramic vessels by the hundreds, for example for use for diplomatic receptions, which soon made them popular with foreign traders and diplomats. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the production of ceramic mosque lights began, which was used for the first time instead of the previously almost exclusively metal and glass lamps. The first written mentions of İznik ceramics were the order for 97 vessels for the court kitchen in the Topkapı Palace 1489–1490 and the mention of two objects in the inventory of the treasury from 1496. The earliest preserved and datable blue-and-white ceramics are wall tiles in the Mausoleum of Şehzade Mahmud, one of the sons of Bayezid II , who died 1506–7.
The term Abraham-von-Kütahya -Ware is often used to denote the early blue-and-white İznik pottery , after the jug of the same name, which dates back to 1510. The jug is stylistically rather atypical, so that the term Baba-Nakkaş-Ware , named after the leading Ottoman court artist, has been suggested as an alternative . However, this term is also misleading.
The vessels have a dense decor in white on a cobalt blue background, in which Ottoman arabesques, some of which are based on Byzantine models, are combined with Chinese flower compositions , known as the Rumi-Hatayi style. However, mere copies of Chinese models are rare. The Timurid art, which contained Turkish and Iranian elements, was an essential predecessor of the İznik style . In many cases, stylistic changes in ceramics were prepared by metal art . In the first two decades of the 16th century, a design change began: a lighter blue was introduced, white areas were used more generously and floral motifs increasingly replaced the tendril patterns of older vessels. Examples of this are the ceramic mosque lights in the Bayezid II mausoleum, built in 1512 , which are based on Mamluk glass lamps and were less used for lighting than decoration.
Patronage by the Ottoman court: Suleyman the Magnificent
After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman sultans began numerous monumental construction projects. Large quantities of ceramic tiles were installed in the buildings commissioned by Süleyman the Magnificent , his favorite wife Hürrem and his grand vizier Rustem Pascha . In the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul alone, over 20,000 individual tiles were used to clad the walls and stands. The walls of numerous other mosques and the Topkapı Palace were also tiled with ceramic. As a result, tile production dominated the output of the İznik pottery from now on.
However, there was also increased demand for pottery and utility ceramics. Especially in the case of large plates, the decoration in the composition became freer, looser and more naturalistic, with ships, animals, trees, flowers and symbols such as chintamani forming the motifs. Many of the plates appear to have been used for wall decoration; they have foot rings on which they could be hung, but at the same time traces of use have been proven on many bowls. Since 1520, the Saz style dominated with its long, serrated, dynamically arranged leaves that were balanced by static rosettes . In the later 16th century, the Quatre Fleurs style prevailed with its repertoire of stylized roses, carnations, tulips and hyacinths, which from then on formed the main motifs of Turkish ceramics.
Golden Horn style (around 1530–1550)
The so-called golden horn style was a variation of the blue and white goods, which was mainly produced between 1525 and 1555. It is named after the fragments that were excavated around 1905 as the first evidence of this style during the renovation of the Sirkeci post office on the Golden Horn in Istanbul . A comparison with the blue-and-white İznik goods, which are very similar in terms of motifs, showed that they were also manufactured in their factories. In contrast to these even more Islamic than Chinese design traditions, however, they are obliged to do so. Characteristic of the golden horn style are the spirals interspersed with small leaves, which on scrolls often served as a background motif for the sultan's insignia , which is why this variant is also known as the tughra style . Later vessels became more multicolored and used turquoise, olive green and black in addition to cobalt blue. Some of the goods, especially the smaller bowls with wide rims, show similarities to Italian majolica .
Golden horn style deep plate, around 1530
Pear-shaped water jug, around 1530–1535
Plate similar to the tondino majolika, around 1530–1540
Damascus ware (around 1530–1550)
The so-called Damascus ware became very popular between 1530 and 1550. In addition to blue and turquoise, celadon green and manganese violet were used for the first time on a larger scale, so that this style represents a transition form to full-fledged polychrome ceramics. In this case, too, the name was based on the first place where the ceramics were found, the Syrian city of Damascus , which was conquered by the Ottomans in 1516 and where copies of İznik ceramics were apparently made for a long time.
A key object from this period is a mosque traffic light, which is one of the few ceramics that has been accurately dated and signed by its creator. The lamp was found on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and donated to the Dome of the Rock in the course of the restoration work carried out under Suleyman I in the Holy District . The inscriptions refer to the Sufi master Eşrefzade Rumi and his hometown İznik and mention the name of the decorative painter, the “poor and humble Muslim”, and the month of completion, Jumādā l-ūlā in the Hijra year 956, i.e. 1549. A comparison with others This enables similar objects to be more precisely dated and classified in terms of art history. The lamp is colored in green, black and two different shades of blue and shows calligraphic friezes and cloud band ornaments in combination with playful arabesque painting.
Mosque traffic light from İznik for the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, made by an artist named Musli, 1549
Saz style plate with peacock motif, around 1540–1555
Damascus ware with floral decoration, around 1540–1555
Polychrome ceramic (1550–1600)
The production of polychrome ceramics was the longest and most successful period of İznik ware. It began in the middle of the 16th century and ended in the 17th century. It is characterized in particular by the significantly expanded color palette and the strong, often three-dimensional bolus red. As before, a rich flora continued to characterize the pottery of Ottoman taste; the flowers are usually detailed enough that they can be botanically assigned without difficulty. In addition to naturalistic decorations, compositions from sailing ships have now become popular as a motif, a design that European faience manufacturers were particularly happy to adopt as part of the turquerie .
Plate with vegetable and floral motifs, 1580–1600
Polychrome plate, late 16th or early 17th century
Decline (1600-1700)
Towards the end of the 16th century, the quality of the pottery produced in İznik began to decline significantly; the color clarity and the creative innovative strength decrease significantly, the bolus red is colored more unevenly and is only rarely used, the free drawing style is almost completely abandoned in favor of conventional patterns. The main factor in this process is the loss of the patronage of the Ottoman court and the increasing fall in prices in the wake of inflation. In addition, Chinese porcelain was increasingly imported, the quality standards of which the potters in İznik could no longer keep up with under these conditions. The previously almost unrivaled tile production, which had formed the economic backbone of ceramic production, almost came to a standstill due to a lack of construction activity. In addition, instead of ceramic wall paneling, decorative wood paneling similar to that of the Aleppo room became increasingly fashionable. The development of new markets, for example through the restoration of the Aqsunqur mosque in Cairo, which was equipped with İznik tiles from 1654, and the export to Europe, especially to the Megisti Lavra monastery in Greece, could slow the decline, but ultimately don't stop. Disasters such as large-scale fires within the city's production districts did the rest. At the end of the 17th century there were only a few kilns left in İznik and production was finally stopped entirely.
İznik plate with a ship motif, around 1625–1650
Plate with Greek inscription and architectural motif, 1666
Contemporary Turkish ceramics
After the decline of ceramic production in İznik, the southeastern village of Kütahya became the center of ceramic production. The French fries, which are mainly produced for tourists to this day, are imitations of earlier pottery. Ahmet Şahin is one of the more important modern Turkish potters, whose style was formative for an entire generation. There are also individual workshops in İznik itself that produce ceramics for sale to tourists.
Other production sites for ceramics in the Ottoman Empire
Kutahya
In recent research, the importance of other production sites for ceramics in the Ottoman Empire is increasingly being pointed out, especially that of Kütahya . The Abraham von Kütahya jug in the British Museum is not the only object for which an origin from this somewhat remote location is being discussed. The underglaze inscription of a water jug in the golden horn style preserved in fragments identifies it as an object from Kütahya . Arthur Lane rejected this assumption in his attempt to attribute all Ottoman ceramics to the production in İznik, however. In the course of archaeological excavations in Kütahya, however, it has been shown that chips were made there early on, which are very similar to the İznik ceramics and ultimately hardly distinguishable from it in terms of motifs and colors. However, for a long time, Kütahya was probably only a subordinate place of manufacture due to its significantly greater distance from Istanbul.
Istanbul
During the first half of the 16th century, underglazed blue and white ceramics were also produced in Istanbul. A register from 1526 lists a tile manufacturer from Tabriz employed at the Ottoman court with his ten assistants. In the tile factories near the Porphyrogennetos Palace , all tiles used in Ottoman buildings in Istanbul were probably made until the Suleymaniye Mosque was built in 1550. The decoration was done almost exclusively using the Cuerda-Seca technique. Some of the tiles in the Circumcision Pavilion of the Topkapı Palace probably date back to this time and show the close cooperation between the building ceramics manufacturers and the artists in the court ateliers. Pottery vessels may also have been made in their workshops. Since the second half of the 16th century at the latest, however, the competition from İznik was so great that production in Istanbul was finally stopped.
Provenance of İznik ceramics and reception in Europe
As early as the 16th century, Ottoman ceramics were produced specifically for export to Europe and given the coat of arms of the future owners. David Ungnad, the imperial envoy in Constantinople, purchased large quantities of pottery in İznik between 1573 and 1578 and then shipped them to Austria. Pottery that copied the Ottoman style was made in Venice and Padua in the 17th century.
In the 19th century, European interest in Islamic pottery, which at that time was still known as “Persian” ceramics, increased significantly. Ceramists such as Théodore Deck and William De Morgan attempted a targeted imitation and new version of Turkish motifs and techniques. Ceramic manufacturers such as Vilmos Zsolnay , but also Villeroy & Boch , were inspired by İznik ceramics. Frederick DuCane Godman was probably the most important collector of İznik goods. Most of the goods he acquired are now in the British Museum , which has thus acquired the world's largest collection of İznik ceramics.
literature
- Nurhan Atasoy, Julian Raby: Iznik. The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey . Alexandra Press, London 1989, ISBN 978-0-500-97374-5 .
- John Carswell: Iznik Pottery . British Museum Press, London 1998.
- Walter Denny: Ottoman ceramics from Iznik . Hirmer, Munich 2005.
- Arthur Lane : Later Islamic Pottery: Persia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey . Faber and Faber, London 1971.
- Katharina Otto-Dorn : Turkish ceramics . Türk tarih kurumu basımevi, Istanbul 1957.
- Maria Queiroz Ribeiro: Iznik pottery and tiles in the Calouste Gulbenkian collection . Scala Books, 2010, ISBN 978-1-85759-586-4 .
Web links
- İznik and Ottoman Ceramics , Louvre website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Arthur Lane: The Ottoman Pottery of Isnik . In: Ars Orientalis 2, 1957, pp. 247-281.
- ↑ Oktay Aslanapa: Pottery and Kilns from the Iznik Excavations . In: Research on Asian Art in Memoriam Kurt Erdmann , Istanbul, 1969, pp. 140–46.
- ↑ Ulrich Mania: A new workshop for early Turkish ceramics. Miletware from Pergamon . In: Istanbuler Mitteilungen 56, 2006, pp. 475–501.
- ↑ An example of an object with a geometric decoration is a plate in the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, dating from the first half of the 15th century . Compared to floral motifs and tendril patterns, such angular braided ribbons are rather rare and hardly ever to be found in the later İznik ceramics.
- ^ A b S. Paynter, F. Okyar, S. Wolf, MS Tite: The Production Technology of Iznik Pottery. A reassessment. In: Archaeometry 46/3, 2004, pp. 421–437.
- ^ Martina Müller-Wiener: The art of the Islamic world. Reclam, Stuttgart, 2012, p. 281.
- ↑ Julian Henderson: İznik pottery. A technical examination. In: Nurhan Atasoy, Julian Raby: Iznik. The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey . Alexandra Press, London 1989, p. 67.
- ↑ Nurhan Atasoy, Julian Raby: Iznik. The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey , p. 30.
- ↑ Ibolya Gerelyes: “Ceramics”. In: Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Masters: Encyclopaedia of the Ottoman Empire , Facts of File, New York, 2009, pp. 132-134.
- ^ John Carswell: Iznik Pottery , p. 38.
- ↑ Nurhan Atasoy, Julian Raby: Iznik. The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey , p. 76 ff.
- ↑ “Ceramics”. In: Jonathan M. Bloom, Sheila Blair, The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture . Volume 1, pp. 440-479, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009, p. 468.
- ^ Arthur Lane: The Ottoman Pottery of Isnik , p. 262.
- ^ Gülru Necipoğlu: From International Timurid to Ottoman. A Change of Taste in Sixteenth-Century Ceramic Tiles . In: Muqarnas 7, 1990, pp. 136-170.
- ↑ Nurhan Atasoy, Julian Raby: Iznik. The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey , pp. 41, 94.
- ^ John Carswell: Iznik Pottery , p. 55.
- ↑ Katharina Otto-Dorn: Turkish Ceramics , p. 71.
- ^ Arthur Lane: The Ottoman Pottery of Isnik , p. 268.
- ↑ Barbara Bend: Islamic Art. British Museum Press, London 1991, p. 184.
- ↑ Katharina Otto-Dorn: Turkish Ceramics , p. 105.
- ↑ Annette Hagedorn: In search of the new style. The influence of Ottoman art on European ceramics in the 19th century. National Museums in Berlin, 1998, p. 9.
- ^ John Carswell: Iznik Pottery , p. 106.
- ↑ Katharina Otto-Dorn: Turkish Ceramics , p. 123.
- ↑ Nurhan Atasoy, Julian Raby: Iznik. The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey , p. 274 ff.
- ^ Doris Behrens-Abouseif: Islamic Architecture in Cairo. An Introduction. Brill, Leiden, 1992, p. 116.
- ↑ Henry Glassie: The Potter's Art . Indiana University Press, Bloomington 1999, pp. 56-90.
- ^ John Carswell: Iznik Pottery , p. 46 f.
- ^ Arthur Lane: The Ottoman Pottery of Isnik , p. 271.
- ↑ Nurhan Atasoy, Julian Raby: Iznik. The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey , p. 74.
- ^ John Carswell: Iznik Pottery , p. 48.
- ^ Gülru Necipoğlu: From International Timurid to Ottoman. P. 139.
- ^ Gülru Necipoğlu: From International Timurid to Ottoman. P. 145.
- ↑ Annette Hagedorn: In search of the new style , p. 17.
- ^ Robert Irwin : Islamic Art . DuMont, Cologne, 1998, p. 238f.