Ceramics Tiles

Anatolian Seljuks sometimes used square, rectangular, hexagonal, and triangular tiles to cover interior walls. These tiles are plain, with turquoise, violet, or cobalt blue being the chief colors applied in the underglaze technique. Sometimes the traces of overglaze gilding are to be found; however because the gilding was fired at a low temperature (or not fired at all), it was not durable and has mostly disappeared.

The luster technique first appeared in Abbasid Iraq. Later developed to a high level by the Fatimids in Egypt, it was successfully employed by the Iranian Seljuks. The only place in Anatolia where luster tiles have been found is Kubadabad. The tiles discovered at the excavations of the palace are now on display at the Karatay Medrese Museum in Konya. Luster tiles are decorated in an overglaze technique in which the design is painted with lustera mixture of metallic oxides incorporating silver and copperonto a previously glazed and fired surface. The tiles are then given a second firing at a lower temperature producing a range of lustrous, mostly brownish and yellowish tones. Seljuk palace luster tiles are decorated with plant motifs as well as with human and animal figures.

In underglaze tiles, the designs are painted onto the surface, which is then glazed before the tile is fired. This was the technique most commonly used by the Anatolian Seljuks. The preferred colors were turquoise, cobalt blue, green, violet, and black. Instances of black-decorated tiles under a turquoise glaze are also found. Fine examples of these tiles have been discovered at the excavations of the Kubadabad Palace in Beysehir, where the tiles are decorated with plant motifs as well as with figures of human beings and animals.

The minai technique was developed in Iran in the 12th and 13th centuries mainly in ceramics. The only place in Anatolia were tiles of this type have been found is Alaeddin Kiosk in Konya. The palette of colors that this technique offers is much greater and one finds shades of violet, blue, turquoise, green, red, brown, black, and white as well as gilding. Some colors were applied under the glaze and then fired; others were applied over the glaze which then received a secondary opaque white, transparent, or turquoise glaze and was fired again. The designs of minai tiles are lively and reminiscent of miniatures with themes taken from palace and court life.

In addition to these techniques, which, along with underglaze, appear in religious and funerary architecture, there were two techniques employed only in civil and palace architecture: minai tiles and luster tiles. The forms of these tiles were also different, the favorite shapes being stars and crosses; instead of geometric patterns, vegetal scroll and lively figurative compositions were used.

A third technique in which the Anatolian Seljuks were skilled was that of mosaic tile. This was also employed in interiors, especially in mihrab niches, the interiors of domes, transitions to domes, vaults, and walls. Tile mosaic is formed by pieces of tile cut to shapes to fit the pattern intended. The unglazed surfaces of the tesserae are slightly conical. The pieces were arranged glazed-side down after which a whitish mortar was poured over them. When it had set, the resulting plate or panel could be installed where desired. Mosaic-tile compositions are generally geometrical but floral motifs and Kufic or Thuluth calligraphy are also found. The most popular colors were turquoise, cobalt blue, eggplant violet, and black. Examples of Anatolian Seljuk buildings decorated with mosaic tile are Karatay Medrese (Konya, 1251), Alaaddin Mosque (Konya, 1220), Gok Medrese and Mosque (Sivas, 1271), the Malatya Grand Mosque (1247), and Ince Minareli Medrese (Konya, 1264).

A type of architectural decoration used in conjunction with glazed brick was hexagonal, triangular, square, and rectangular monochrome tiles. Unlike brick, these were preferred for indoor applications and were suitable for a multiplicity of geometrical arrangements. Tiles were made from a paste that was harder and more yellowish than that of bricks. Turquoise, cobalt blue, violet, and (sometimes) green glazes were used. There are rare examples with traces of gilding.

The most frequently-encountered type of architectural decoration during the Anatolian Seljuk period involved the use of glazed brick in which glazed (and also unglazed) bricks were arranged to produce a variety of patterns, mostly on the facades of buildings. Turquoise was the most frequently-used color for glaze although cobalt blue, eggplant violet, and sometimes black were also popular.

The Anatolian Seljuks were of course influenced by the cultural heritage they encountered in their new homeland, adapting them to the techniques that they had brought with them from the Iranian plateau. This resulted in a distinctively Anatolian style of Seljuk architecture that was in full bloom by the 13th century. Seljuk mosques, medreses (theological academies), tombs, and palaces were lavishly decorated with exquisite tiles. Examples of such tile-clad structures can still be seen in the Seljuks' capital city of Konya as well as in the cities of Sivas, Tokat, Beysehir, Kayseri, Erzurum, Malatya, and Alanya.

The art of Turkish tiles and ceramics occupies a place of prominence in the history of Islamic art. Its roots can be traced at least as far back as the Uighurs of the 8th and 9th centuries. Its subsequent development was influenced by Karakhanid, Ghaznavid, and (especially) Iranian Seljuk art. With the Seljuks' victory over the Byzantines at Malazgirt in 1071, the art followed them into Anatolia and embarked upon a new period of strong development fostered by the Anatolian Seljuk sultanate.