History:
The Iznik Ceramic Industry
The ceramic world commenced in Iznik due to a number of factors, firstly there had been a tradition in the area since 7th century B.C, and the natural resources required from the production of ceramics existed.
The Ottoman Sultan’s from the 15th until the 17th Century had beautifully exquisite palaces decorated in hand painted Iznik tiles as well as all of the mosques built during that period. The most famous buildings using ceramic tiles are but naming a few, the Green Mosque and Green Mausoleum in Bursa, the Topkapi and Dolmabahce palace, the Blue Mosque and the Aye Sophia in Istanbul.
In the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566), Iznik was officially recognised as the main ceramic centre of the Ottoman Empire. The period marked the height of the Empire’s power and its artistic and cultural development, and simultaneous corresponded to the golden age of its ceramic production.
Until the mid-16th Century, the production of pottery was the main concern of the industry, there was great diversity where a range of colours were used and there was great sophistication in the decoration. The artist’s creativity extended from different sized tiles to cylindrical tankards, deep dishes, flasks, mosque lamps, small bowls, jars, candlesticks, ewers and even pen cases.
From the early 17th century onwards, there was a slow decline in the Iznik ceramic industry; scholars have all attributed a range of different reasons for this. The great fire of 1616 probably marked the beginning of the process, together with other political and social instability including in the courts sponsorship and a shortage of raw materials.
The ceramic art involved in the following manner:
1. Blue-and-white decoration and the Chinese influence
Iznik ceramic production initially presented the blue and white decoration, either in reserve on a blue background or in blue on a white background in the 15th Century.
The decorative composition, known as rumi-hatayi, was characterised, by the association of two distractive elements: the Islamic origin, rumi which is in the form of half a leaf, and the other is the Chinese motif, hatayi.
Between 1510 and 1520 the rumi-hatayi decoration, the use of a medium blue outlined in a darker blue and the alternation of the decoration in reserve and the decoration on a white ground were the main features defining the white and blue ceramics produced in the Iznik workshops.
The contribution that Chinese porcelain made to the Ottoman ceramics was an important one; however the Ottoman potters gradually became free from the constraints of the Chinese models, interpreting the Far Eastern motifs in their own creative manner.
2. The evolution of the colour range
The second decade of the 16th Century introduced the Turquoise blue in the Iznik ceramic industry. There was a move away from the rumi-hatayi style, towards more spontaneous art referred to the ‘potter’s style’, which symmetrically arranged small flowers, tulips and marguerites, as well as the cloud scrolls in the cavetto.
The artists started using sage green and this is often referred to as the third stage in the evolution of the colour range in Iznik ceramic production. The artists also started using large sized vegetal motifs that are reminiscent of pomegranates or artichokes.
3. Polychromy
In the mid-16th Century, the Ottoman artists achieved the mastery of the technique of underglaze painting; this was at the time the Armenian red bole pigment into the colour range.
This period saw the introduction of the naturalistic floral decorations. The artists started using tulips, hyacinths, carnations, roses and other flowers were depicted in their pottery and tiles.
Ceramics of this floral type can be seen in the walls of the Mosque of Murad III and the glazed tiles used in the Mosque Selim II, both in Edirne.
Towards the end of the 16th Century the artists started using a variety of real and fictional animals in their art. The animals are depicted in various positions, primarily drawn in black outline so that their physical features are not visible.
The artists were becoming more creative and at this stage the peacock image become extremely popular, along with the Griffins, dragons, sirens, harpies, two-headed eagles, the phoenix and the simurgh were just some of the fabulous creatures the Ottoman artists used. The symbolism of the fantastic animals dates back not only to the classical antiquity, but also to the Chinese, Indian, Persian and Christian traditions.
5. Eclecticisms
As the 16th Century drew to a close, eclecticism gained grounds in terms of decorative motifs, giving rise to the inclusion of radiating and rotating elements.
