Susan S. Kopecki
Susan S. Kopecki
Art Teacher
Highcrest Elementary School
Wethersfield, CT
Title of Lesson
Clay Iznik Tiles
Grade Level
Grade 4+
Anticipated Time Period
Two hour lesson
CT State Standards
Content Standard 3: Content
Students will consider, select and apply a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas.
Content Standard 4: History and Culture
Students will understand the visual arts in relation to history and culture.
Unit Goal
Students will study the art of the Middle East
Objective
Students will identify the characteristics of Islamic Art
Students will create a ceramic tile with motifs found in Turkish art
Vocabulary
Iznik, Turkey
Stoneware clay
Slab
Relief Sculpture
Score, Incise, Carve
Kiln
Template
Motif
Islamic Art
Materials
6” square white drawing paper/pencils
Stoneware clay, rolling pins, pin tools, modeling tools
Glaze- blue, turquoise, purple, green, red, clear
Brushes & water
Motivation/Initiation
· Read history of Iznik Pottery to students. Show various color examples of Iznik Tiles.
· Discuss the history of the Tulip, its significance in the Turkish culture. Flowers have always had an important part in Turkish life and culture, affecting art in stylized form from tiles to fabrics to poems and songs, and everyday life from cooking to naming children. Tulips, roses, carnations, hyacinth, magnolia and many others have a special place in Turkish culture.
· In the Ottoman Empire, tulips played such an important role that the reign of Sultan Ahmed III (1703-1730) has been labeled the "Tulip Era". Three hundred years before Dutch and British horticulture societies got together to propose the first classified list of tulip names, Turkish florist-in-chief in Sultan's court was heading council to judge new cultivars of tulips and was giving them fanciful and poetic names; some examples are: "Those that burn the heart", "Matchless Pearl", "Rose of colored Glass", "Increaser of Joy", "Big Scarlet", "Star of Felicity", "Diamond Envy", or "Light of the Mind". Only the most flawless cultivars were entered into the official tulip list. The Turkish florist standards were uncompromising and preferred only tall thin tulips narrowly contoured and made up of dagger-shaped pedals. The pedals had to be smooth, stiff, of one color, the exact size and length, pedals of narrow pointed tips, and with no gaps. For further reading: Pavord, Anna. The Tulips. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 1999.
· In Turkish history the Tulip played an interesting role. The period in Turkey, between 1718-1730 was called the "Tulip Era", under the reign of Sultan Ahmed III. This period is also expressed as an era of peace and enjoyment. Tulips became and important style of life within the arts, folklore and the daily life. Many embroidery and textile clothing handmade by woman, carpets, tiles, miniatures etc. had tulip designs or shapes.
· The botanical name for tulips, Tulipa, is derived from the Turkish word "tulbend" or "turban", which the flower resembles. It's considered as the King of Bulbs.
· The tulip was already known in Anatolia in the 11th century by the Seljuk’s who used it in ornamental decoration of art pieces. It became a symbol of wealth and power and the Ottoman sultans held lavish festivals to honor the flower.
· Hasan Celebi, a world reknowned Turkish master of Arabic calligraphy describes calligraphy: ‘The view of calligraphy is like a tulip, beautiful and far. A Tulip does not smell, so it is useless to touch calligraphy. Someone comes and tries to read it. However, our issue is not the content, but the harmony and beauty in it. That gives our soul the feeling of praying."
Procedure
1. Using white 6” square draw a template for your Iznik inspired tile. Using various motifs found in Islamic Art as well as the tulip, the flower of Turkey.
2. Roll out slab of stoneware clay, creating even thickness in slab. Trace 6”square template onto clay. Using pin tool cut out square.
3. Using several methods for clay construction (incising, joining and carving) students will create a clay relief of their template.
4. Upon firing students will glaze their Iznik inspired tiles using the traditional colors: blue, white, turquoise, purple and red
Extension Activity Assessment and Evaluation:
· Rubric: based on creativity, concept (Islamic motifs & tulips), work ethic, craftsmanship, and glazing
· Quiz: include vocabulary words on final quiz
IZNIK TILES
There is a widely held but quite erroneous belief that figurative painting is not found in Islamic art due to prohibition by the Koran. Religious rulings issued only in the ninth century discouraged the representation of any living beings capable of movement but they were not rigidly enforced until the 15th C. Figurative art is especially rich in tiles as well as stone and stucco reliefs of the Seljuk period, adorning both secular and religious relief monuments. The subjects included nobility as well as servants, hunters and hunting animals, trees, birds, sphinxes, lions, sirens, dragons and double-headed eagles.
-Iznik Tiles are world famous tiles produced in the city of Iznik, formally known as Nicaea. Iznik is an ancient, lovely walled town on the shores of Lake Iznik. Earthenware’s had been made here since the 7th B.C. Iznik is the city that launched a thousand tiles. Set on the shores of a peaceful lake just a short boat and bus ride from Istanbul, Iznik is a delightful small town with such an intriguing history.
-Some of the most beautiful floral art of all time came from the Anatolian city of Iznik.
-In 1331 it was the turn of the Ottomans to take control of Iznik and it was the Ottomans who helped t he town stamp its even more famous mark on history.
-In 1514 Sultan Selim I occupied Tabriz in Iran and exiled its tile makers to Iznik. There they set up shop and added a precious coral red glaze to the more conventional blue and white tiles. The rest as they say ‘is history’. Iznik tiles went on to grace mosques worldwide but especially those of Istanbul. Unfortunately their popularity was also to be their downfall. So much did Sultan Ahmet love the tiles that when he started work on his great ‘Blue’ Mosque he insisted that the Iznik tile makers should work on nothing else until it was completed. In the way of things enthusiasm didn’t necessarily translate into decent wages and many of the tile makers voted with their feet and headed out for better paying jobs in Kutahya. The inevitable result was that Kutahya was soon ‘in’ and Iznik ‘oput’ in tile fashion circles.
-Is is no surprise that the collapse of the pottery industry in Iznik in the 17th C parallels the decline of the empire itself.
-Reputedly there were 300 functioning kilns in Iznik when work began on the Blue Mosque and only nine still in business when it was completed seven years later.
- Iznik production began in the Byzantium period but reached its perfection in the 16th & 17th C during the Ottoman period
-Iznik tiles are heavily created by the quartz (clay is 80% quartz) found in this region. The quartz in the clay gives it is great whiteness. This type of clay is very difficult to work with, requiring high temperatures. The clay is very porous which acts to protect the clay against the extreme temperatures which allows it to expand and to contract if used outdoors.
-Iznik tiles are very suitable for mosques because of their acoustic abilities and their ability to bend and conform to various shapes.
-Tile making is one of the oldest and most respected arts in Turkey.
-Decorative motifs and patterns found on Iznik Tiles are a rich blend of Greek, Roman, Ottoman, Seljuk and Arabic influences that contributed to Turkish art.
-The decorative patterns used are: swirling leaves, clusters of stylized tulips, delicate floral balanced with geometric rhythms.
-In addition to tiles, the town's potteries continued to produce china ware for sale to the public as well as the palace
-The earliest tiles made at Iznik were blue and white.
-The blue and white Chinese porcelain and celadon ware which poured into the markets of the Near East from the 14th century onwards became extremely popular among the wealthy who could afford such precious objects. Iznik's potters had to compete to survive, and they did so by imitating the Chinese designs from Yuan and early Ming. They began to turn out plates and dishes similar to the much admired Chinese porcelain(blue & white) and before long had not only mastered these designs but began to give them new forms according to their own tastes. The result found favor not only within the Ottoman Empire but beyond Iznik potteries. Blue and white plates, bowls, lamps, candlesticks and other items made in Iznik during the 15th century are decorated in the style we now, consisting of scrollwork and floral designs, which was popular during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II (1451-1481).
-Turquoise was added to the traditional Iznik palette of blue and white from the 1530s onwards.
-From the 1540s onwards, mauve and purple also appear in Iznik designs, followed by green and the exquisite coral red unique to Iznik ware.
-In addition to a wide range of flowers, pomegranates, artichokes and tree motifs occur in the compositions of this period. The tiles and other pieces were exuberantly decorated with hyacinths, tulips, carnations, roses, and stylized floral scrollwork and geometric patterns.
-The Turkish Ministry of Culture proclaimed 1989 as Iznik Year, and numerous events and activities relating to Iznik pottery were held.
Resources: Look up photos on the many beautiful Mosques of Turkey for Iznik Tiles on internet
http://www.balsoy.com/Turkiye/Marmara/Mosques.html
http://www.turkishculture.org/
http://www.armory.com/~ssahin/articles/article6.html
http://www.adiyamanli.org/iznik.html
http://www.kultur.gov.tr (click on English)
http://www.ottomanclassics.com/home/ http://www.theottomans.org/english/art_culture/ceramics.asp
IZNIK
Iznik is a lovely walled town on the shores of Lake Iznik. This is the ancient Nicea, named after Nikaia, wife of Lysimakhos, one of the rulers who inherited the empire of Alexander the Great. Early in the 13th century the Seljuk Turks ruled the city briefly following which Iznik became the setting for major events in Byzantine history for another century. The city finally came under Turkish sovereighty again, this time for good in 1331 during the reign of the second Ottoman Sultan Orhan Gazi.
The 17th century Ottoman traveller Evliya Celebi gives a detailed account of the town in his Chronicles. After mentioning its vineyards, orchards, market gardens shaded by cypresses and olive groves, he continues, "Its china bowls, plates and jugs are greatly valued. All the decorated wall tiles in the land of the Ottomans are made in the city of Iznik. Words are incapable of describing the tiles ornamented like chameleons which are produced." While the events of political history, however important, are recalled only sporadically, art set its stamp on daily life so that its memory remains vivid. The chinaware of Iznik, an art which began here in Byzantine times and reached its zenith under the Ottoman Turks, is a striking example, and the potteries of Iznik played a central role in the town's destiny. During the Byzantine era the pottery of Iznik was similar to that made in many other regions of Anatolia but soon after the Turkish conquest, Iznik ware developed a distinctive style. Moreover production expanded significantly, as the potteries were turned virtually into imperial tile works manufacturing vast quantities of wall tiles for the Ottoman palaces, mosques and other monumental buildings which embellished the four corners of the empire
Turquoise was added to the traditional Iznik palette of blue and white from the 1530s onwards. Iznik's potters developed a style which diverged significantly from that of the court decorators, and more over began to enrich their repertoire with human and animal figures and ship motifs. It must be remembered that apart from wall tiles made to order for the court, the potters made china plates, bowls, ewers, cups, vases, candlesticks, lamps and many similar articles for public consumption, and for these the potters created their own designs. Drawing upon the new styles developed by the great court painters they designed new patterns of their own. From the 1540s onwards, mauve and purple also appear in Iznik designs, followed by green and the exquisite coral red unique to Iznik ware.
In addition to a wide range of flowers, pomegranates, artichokes and tree motifs occur in the compositions of this period. The finest Iznik pottery was produced during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent and up to the end of the 17th century.The tiles and other pieces were exuberantly decorated with hyacinths, tulips, carnations, roses, and stylised floral scrollwork known as hatayi, Chinese clouds, imbrication, cintemani (a design consisting of three spots and pairs of flickering stripes), and geometric patterns.