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<p>Kutahya is one of the places which first comes to mind when speaking
of tiles and pottery. Ceramics production has been central to the city's
economy since the 14th century and possibly earlier, due to the
abundance of fine quality clay in the area, although Kutahya's ceramics
only gained widespread fame from the 18th century onwards. As well as
tiles the potteries here produced bowls, cups, plates, rosewater
sprinklers, hanging ornaments, jugs, lemon squeezers, bottles, ewers,
flasks, vases and figurines. Early examples of Kutahya tiles dating from
the late 14th century were made of red paste and had designs very
similar to those of Iznik, but painted in a darker palette of cobalt
blue, manganese purple, turquoise and black closely resembling the
colour scheme of Seljuk tiles. In the mid-15th century blue and white
tile designs became common and the quality improved, although they were
still overshadowed by the magnificent Iznik tiles.<br><br>Rivalry
between the two cities dates from this period, when the Iznik potteries
were patronised by the palace in Istanbul and devoted almost all its
production capacity to orders from the court and court circles. Kutahya,
on the other hand, continued to produce cheaper ware for ordinary
people. Towards the end of the 16th century the Iznik potteries began to
decline, and the Kutahya potteries gradually began to supersede them in
the 17th century. The falling quality of Iznik tiles
undoubtedly played a part in this development. In the 18th century
production in Iznik stopped entirely and, freed from the influence of
their old rivals, the Kutahya potters began to produce ware in a
distinctive style of their own. Now their tiles and pottery ware were
characterised by vigorous designs in free brush strokes. The tiles of
this golden age have never been surpassed in terms of design or quality.
They were made of white or cream coloured paste, with designs painted
over white slip and covered by transparent glaze.<br><br>Green, yellow,
turquoise, cobalt blue, brick red and manganese purple were the
predominant colours used not only for traditional designs such as tulips
and other flower motifs, but the figures of women in local costume,
birds and horsemen which characterise this period. In 1709 Sultan Ahmed
III ordered 9500 tiles for the palace being built for his daughter Fatma
Sultan in Istanbul, and many other orders for Kutahya tiles were
placed, for mosques and churches in Istanbul and other cities as far
afield as Jerusalem. Tiles fell out of fashion towards the end of the
18th century, only to be revived again in the latter part of the 19th
century by the architects of the First National Architecture Movement.
The most famous tile painter of this late period was Canakci Haci Hafiz
Mehmed Emin Efendi (1872-1922), who learnt the art of tile painting from
Mehmed Hilmi Efendi, an Istanbul artist who had been exiled to Kutahya.
During the same period more durable tiles made of clay with a higher
silica content began to be p<br>roduced.<br><br>The designs of these
tiles, painted in dark blue, turquoise, dark green, yellow and brick
red, feature peonies, large curving leaves, spring blossom, naturalistic
carnations, tulips and hyacinths, and vases of flowers. One of the most
famous early 20th century Kutahya potters was Haci Minas. However, the
revival was shortlived, and demand for Kutahya tiles slumped between
1920 and 1960. The efforts of Faik Kirimli played a major role in the
section recovery. Using ferrous sulphate, Kirimli succeeded in producing
the coral red which had been the most distinctive colour of 16th
century Iznik tiles. One of the most celebrated modern Kutahya potters
is Sitki Olcar
, best known both in Turkey and abroad for his blue and white tiles in
Iznik style designs. He uses a granulated glaze, and has revived the
colour turquoise of the Ottoman period and the earlier Seljuk yellow.<br><br>Today
Kutahya not only has hundreds of small and large potteries producing
tiles and ceramic ware, but large porcelain factories producing
primarily dinner services, and has grown into a thriving industrial
city. Kutahya Tile Museum, which opened in 1999, contains examples of
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