Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Sanat Tarihi Yıllığı, sa.29, ss.1-19, 2020 (Hakemli Dergi)
Iznik reached the peak of its ceramic and tile production between the 14th- and
17th- centuries. Recent findings at the Iznik Tile Kilns Excavation carried out in
the BHD coded excavation area in Iznik District center revealed that ceramics
had been produced there using an impressed/moulded technique , whichwas widely used in non-Anatolian Islamic ceramic art. These types of ceramics, which are thought to have been
intensively produced after Iznik passed into Ottoman administration in 1331, were classified into two main groups
in terms of their forms and decorations. Moreover, during the 2019 excavation season, characterization studies were
carried out using a portable XRF (pXRF) instrument on seven selected samples in order to determine the body,
slip and glaze composition. The results showed that the sample without a slip contained calcium-rich clay (high
calcium and high alumina). The analyses of the molding materials confirmed earlier studies which had determined
that the paste used (the third type of paste) had been calcareous or calcium-rich clay. Moreover, the sample with
slip contains a greater amount of quartz (55.4 wt%) than the sample without slip (44.2 wt%). Of interest is that the
sherd which is covered with a turquoise glaze contains 24.6 wt% lead-oxide (PbO) and 6 wt% tin oxide (SnO2). This
glaze composition may indicate that the artifact was produced in the earlier period of Iznik production, namely at
the end of the 15th century. Another glazed mold from among the samples analysed does not contain any tin oxide
and has a higher amount of PbO which indicates a later production date (17th- century). The pXRF measurement
results suggest that the mold may have been produced in an earlier period, and then glazed later for decorative
and/or technical purposes.
Keywords: Iznik, Ceramics, Moulded ware, pXRF, Characterization