Iznik ware, in Islamic ceramics, a school of Turkish
pottery making that flowered throughout the 16th and
on into the 17th century. There may have been
potteries at Iznik, where there were deposits of
suitable clay, as early as the 12th century, but it was
not until the late 15th century that pottery making
came into its own in Turkey. The chief centre of
production became established in the city of Iznik.
Early 16th-century Iznik wares were influenced by the
blue-and-white porcelain of Ming-dynasty China and
by Persian wares. Iznik ware was soft and sandy,
being of grayish-white clay covered with a thin,
usually white slip (a mixture of clay and water). Flat
dishes were the commonest shapes, but bowls, jugs,
and flower vases were also made. They were painted
with stylized and symmetrical designs of flowers,
leaves, and fruits, along with abstract linear motifs
based on these natural forms and others such as fish
scales. By the mid-16th century the range of colours
used in the decoration had expanded from blue and
white to include turquoise, several shades of green,
and purple and black. Red had become a frequently
used colour by the late 16th century. The quality of
Iznik ware declined in the 17th century, and by 1800
manufacture had ceased.
- (MS.170)
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