Iznik Tiles and the Mosque of Rüstem Pasha by Kerry Longbottom (original) (raw)
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This article focuses on the Yeşil Complex in Bursa, Turkey, built in 1419-24. Even though it is one of the major Ottoman monuments of the early fifteenth century, the complex-a mosque-zāviye, madrasa, mausoleum, and kitchen-has not been viewed in the broader context of its time, when complex dynamics forced the Ottoman sultan to reposition his struggling empire between Anatolia, Timurid Central Asia, and the Balkans. Whereas early Ottoman architecture, from the emergence of the principality until the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, has been reevaluated in recent years, the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries are only gradually receiving increased scholarly attention. The Ottoman sultan Bayezid I, defeated by the Mongol conqueror Timur, was led into captivity after the battle of Ankara in 1402, and his son Mehmed Çelebi eventually emerged victorious from a civil war with his brothers. In 1413 he came to the throne as Mehmed I, ruling as sultan of the Ottoman Empire until his death in 1421. The Yeşil Complex was a focus of Mehmed I's patronage. I argue that the elaborate tile decoration of the mosque and mausoleum created a deliberate dialogue with both the Anatolian heritage of Seljuk architecture and the broader Persianate culture of post-Mongol Iran and Central Asia. With their varied techniques, color schemes, and visual references, the tiles signal the extent to which Ottoman visual culture in the early fifteenth century mirrored the constant renegotiation of power, rule, and representation that involved the sultan, his historians, and his builders.
Usur al-Wusta, 2024
When studying tile revetments of monuments in Iran from the late twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century and in the fifteenth-century Ottoman Empire, one is faced with two very different narratives as to how the design and production of these revetments came about. The luster tiles installed in Iran and beyond were produced in one city, Kashan, by well-documented families of tile-makers who left a wide range of signed tiles and vessels. Tiles produced in the Ottoman Empire between the 1410s and the 1470s are attributed to the "Masters of Tabriz," an elusive group construed to be a multi-generational, itinerant workshop based on a single signature on the mihrab of the mosque-zāviye of the Ottoman sultan Mehmed I (r. 1413-21) in Bursa (1419-21). In a comparative study of these two contexts, this article offers insights into ways of producing and logistics of transporting and installing large-scale tile revetments, and argues that in the Ottoman case, too, production may have taken place at a single site.
Usage of Tile in The Istanbul Building Facades of The Late Ottoman-Early Republican Period
2023
Tile decoration is one of the main ornamental elements used indoors and outdoors in Turkish-Islamic art. There are examples of tile decoration in Islamic geography, beginning with Iran, from Anatolia to the Balkans. It is accepted that the most mature stage of tile decoration, which entered Anatolia with the Seljuks, was completed in the workshops of Anatolia. Several successful tile samples were used by the Anatolian Seljuks. In the classical age of the Ottoman, previous techniques were developed, new ones were added, and competent examples with a different appearance were given. Tracing this process through tile examples from the central Ottoman provinces is possible. The most beautiful examples of this period are seen in cities like Iznik, Bursa, Edirne, Istanbul, etc. In the early Republican period, the reflections of the efforts to create a national identity in architecture manifested themselves in the historicist-revivalist approach called National Architecture. In this approach, architectural elements-ornamentations taken from religious architecture belonging to earlier periods, such as Ottoman and Seljuk periods, were mostly used on the facades. Leading architects of that period such as Vedat Tek, Mimar Kemaleddin, and Ali Talat Bey, used tile ornamentation extensively in the various public buildings they designed. The study aim is to make an architectural evaluation of the tile decoration used on the facades of buildings in Istanbul, which was shaped especially by the influence of National Architecture in the late Ottoman-Early Republican periods. In this context, twenty examples selected from Istanbul were photographed, documenting their current condition, and the tile decorations on their facades were examined. As seen in the architectural examples in Istanbul, it can be said that in the early 20th century, the tile was considered an element that strengthened the national character. In this context, it continued the Turkish-Islamic architectural decoration traditions with its main lines.
Interaction of Artistic Production in Early XVIIth Century Ottoman Costume Albums and Iznik Ceramics
The privileges, which were given to the Europeans during the reign of Sultan Süleyman (1521-1566), allowed many envoys, merchants and travellers to visit the capital Istanbul from the beginning of XVIIth century. Furthermore, an interest towards diverse geographies which was raised in this period in Europe, caused the production of art objects such as illustrated costume albums and Iznik ceramic dishes commissioned by European visitors. This interest was especially increased in XVIIth century towards purchasing and collecting artistic objects such as İznik ceramics. Concurrently, the production of illustrated costume albums displaying Ottoman and non-Muslim figures were also being commissioned by European patrons to be produced at the painting ateliers out of the court. It is interesting that both Iznik ceramic dishes with human figures and illustrated costume albums with single human figures reveal obvious interaction of collective artistic production in terms of the figures’ drawing and painting techniques. The forms and positions of the figures with their gestures and the colours used are perfectly alike, so that this suggests a possible interaction of artistic production between Iznik ceramics and miniature paintings in the costume albums of that time. Although these examples are unaffiliated with the Court Atelier’s style, it is thought that they are still significant regarding the possible usage of drawing templates by the painters and ceramic artists. XVII. Yüzyıl Başı Osmanlı Kıyafet Albümlerinde ve İznik Seramiklerinde Sanat Üretimi Etkileşimi Öz: Sultan Süleyman’ın (1521-1566) saltanatı zamanında Avrupalılara verilen ayrıcalıklar, pek çok elçi, tüccar ve gezginin XVII. yüzyılın başından itibaren başkent İstanbul’a seyahat edebilmelerini sağlamıştır. Bununla birlikte, Avrupa’da, farklı coğrafyalara bu dönemde artan ilgi, Avrupalı ziyaretçiler tarafından sipariş edilen resimli kıyafet albümleri ve İznik seramik tabakları gibi sanatsal objelerin üretimine neden olmuştur. İznik seramiklerinin satın alınması ve toplanması konusundaki bu ilgi özellikle XVII. yüzyılda artmıştır. Aynı zamanlarda, Osmanlı karakterleri ve gayrimüslim kişilerin betimlendiği resimli kıyafet albümleri de Avrupalı sanat hamileri tarafından saray dışındaki atölyelerde üretilmek üzere sipariş edilmiştir. İlginçtir ki, insan figürlerinin yer aldığı İznik seramik tabakları ve resimli kıyafet albümleri, figürlerin çizim ve boyama teknikleri bakımından, kolektif sanat üretimi anlamında açık bir etkileşim olduğunu göstermektedir. El hareketleri (jestleri) ve kullanılan renklerle birlikte figürlerin biçimleri ve duruş poziyonları son derece benzerdir; bu nedenle, dönemin İznik seramik tabaklarında ve kıyafet albümlerinde betimlenmiş insan figürleri arasında sanatsal üretim bakımından muhtemel bir etkileşimden söz edilebilir. Bu örnekler Nakkaşhane üslubu ile ilişkili olmasa da, çizim şablonlarının ressamlar (nakkaşlar) ve seramik sanatçıları tarafından muhtemel kullanımı bakımından dikkat çekicidir.