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Kütahya's vast clay deposits have been used to produce pottery
continuously since Phrygian times, and the city has been a centre of Turkish tile
and pottery manufacture since the 14th century.
The best known example of 16th century Kütahya pottery is an
ewer dated 1510 with an Armenian inscription explaining that it was made in commemoration
of Abraham of Kütahya. The banded decoration consists of hatayi and rûmi scrolls.
Nevertheless it should not be forgotten that no fragments with
the coral red colour characteristic of this century have ever been found there.
After the İznik potteries began producing white frit ware their capacity was largely
taken up by court commissions for mosques and other monuments. The potteries of
Kütahya presumably played a secondary role, providing İznik with additional capacity
when necessary and otherwise producing mainly for the general public. The fact
that Kütahya's potteries were not so dependent on court patronage enabled them
to remain economically viable.
For the 17th century we have no information about Kütahya tiles
and pottery other than tiles used as architectural decoration.
The Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi, who visited Kütahya in
1671-2, reports that while there were just nine tile manufactories in İznik there
were thirty-four in "the infidel tile makers district" of Kütahya. Evidently
while production was dropping in İznik the potteries of Kütahya were thriving.
In 1710 during repairs to the palace of Fatma Sultan, daughter
of Ahmed III, 9500 tiles were ordered from Kütahya. Evidently tile and pottery
manufacture in the city was increasing during the 18th century, when the İznik
potteries were going into rapid decline. Kütahya tiles used in the construction
or renovation of mosques and churches during the 18th century reveal a distinctive
change in style. As in the past shades of cobalt blue predominate. One group of
tiles is characterised by bouquets of tulips reminiscent of the Tulip Era inside
lobed medallions, rosettes framed by scrolls and stylised seraphim, stylised hatayi
flowers enclosed by serrated leaves and linked by floral stems, rosettes inside
pointed medallions and other abstract floriate motifs typical of vernacular rather
than court art. Elegant table ware and liturgical objects produced in the 18th
century reveal influences deriving from Chinese and European pottery decoration
incorporated into local designs. Small freely drawn sprays of flowers and leaf
shaped medallions usually cover the surface. In addition to blue and white ware,
polychrome decoration in cobalt blue, turquoise, green, and a brownish red applied
in the form of slip which resulted in a moulded effect and never managed to achieve
the rich coral red of İznik ware, was common. The most distinctive characteristic
is the introduction at the beginning of the century of a bright yellow, which
was never employed by the İznik potters. In the mid - 18th century an increasingly
dark manganese purple was added to this colour pallette. Accounts by Paul Lucas,
who visited İstanbul in 1715, and by the French consul Peysonnel who served in
the Crimea in 1753, together with large numbers of fragments found in Syria and
Egypt give an idea of the extent of the market for Kütahya ware. Yet at the same
time the designs became more crudely drawn, the paints tended to bleed, and the
quality of the glaze fell. This continued until the early 19th century. Analysis
shows that the chemical compositions were no longer the same as in the 16th century.
According to a collective wage agreement for Armenian cup
makers in Kütahya and journeymen working in 24 workshops in 1766, a journeyman
was to receive a daily wage of 60 akçe for making 150 cups per day. Yet despite
this seemingly high output there was a sharp drop in the number of potters' workshops.
At the end of the 19th century there was a new surge in tile
and pottery production in Kütahya, and early İznik designs were copied. The best
known potter of this period was Hafız Mehmed Emin. He produced pieces reminiscent
of 16th century work, such as the tiles of Kütahya Government Building (1907)
and the Tomb of Mehmed V Reşad in Eyüp, İstanbul. The nationalist architectural
movement, which sought a return to traditional Turkish concepts, used Kütahya
tiles to decorate public and private buildings in İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Konya
and other cities between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although these
could not rival the 16th century İznik tiles in technical quality and design,
there was certainly an improvement in the quality of the paste and the glaze.
Peonies, large curving leaves, spring blossom, naturalistic tulips, carnations
and hyacinths, vases of flowers, palmettes, geometric compositions and inscriptions
executed in a polychrome palette of dark blue, turquoise, dark green, yellow and
brownish red were widely used. Household ware and souvenirs in the same style
were also produced. The designs were not pure imitation of İznik decoration, but
combined with local motifs.
After the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923 the
state lent its support to the Kütahya potters. Today they produce both modern
forms decorated with traditional motifs and gift items for the tourist trade decorated
largely with designs inspired by İznik ware. It is our hope that the original
forms and decoration developed over the centuries by Kütahya's potters will be
revived and used once again on tiles and pottery made here.
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