Art Of Turkish Tile
The origin of the word is çînî (Chinese work, belonging to China) in Ottoman Turkish, and it is derived from the name of China, in reference to the Chinese who introduced the art of porcelain to the world. Objects whose main material is clay, such as tiles, plates, bowls, vases, are called ceramics. Ceramic ware is divided into three as terracotta ware, tile and porcelain according to the type of soil used and the way of being made.
The protective transparent layer formed by the melting glaze on the plate made of tile paste, because of coloring and glazing the plates in various forms, became the basis of the art of tiles. It has provided a color that does not fade to the architectural ornamentation it is used in.
One of our traditional handicrafts Art Of Turkish Tile, are visible in the interior and exterior ornaments of architectural structures. The fact that glazed slabs were also used by the Uyghur points out to deep rooted history of this tradition in our culture. The tile that developed in our culture in a manner connected with architecture showed its primary growth in the Anatolian Turkish architecture. Wall tiles used in architecture were called kaşi while vases, cups, pitchers, glasses and similar ceramic ware produced as daily utensils were called evani.
Tile making constantly evolved within the Ottoman art with new colors and patterns added to the art in every era. Main centers of the art of Turkish tile which reached its pinnacle in the 16th century were İznik and Kütahya, and Çanakkale ceramics showing regional characteristics emerged in the 18th century. Starting from the 18th century, İznik lost its prominence as a center for tile and ceramic.
The 20th century saw no remarkable development in terms of art of tile making. This traditional art which small scale mills try to maintain continue to be performed by some faithful craftsmen. Istanbul Sanatları Çarşısı, a Touring undertaking, continues to serve as one of the distinguished places making a contribution to conservation and development of these arts.
Examples of the works of our artists;
The artist performing the art of tile in the Istanbul Handicrafts Center and helping it survive and be recognized is as follows:
Ayşe Özkan
Ayşe Özkan who says “I have lived and am living by trying to discover life”, was born in Ankara in 1963.
Her conversation with traditional Turkish-Islamic arts, which started as a curiosity at first, later went to tile proficiency. Özkan, who has been dealing with tile art since his twenties, expresses her acquaintance with tile as follows: “One day I touched the ground. That touch was a new beginning.”
Özkan, who went through the education of Memnune Birkan, one of the students of Professor Doctor Süheyl Ünver, learned the secret of art in detail from the tile masters of Kütahya.
“We came from the earth, and we will be soil again. From this point of view, I see making art with soil, which is the raw material of tile, and on this occasion, I see tile as actually being in touch with life itself.”
