SELJUKIAN TILE AND CERAMICS WITH THE INTERPRETATION OF SITKI OLCAR

Seljuq empire is one of the great Turkish states which had dominated the Central Asia and Middle East for three centuries starting from the 11th century. They had ruled the Anatolian territories after the Malazgirt war which broke out in 1071. During that period, the Seljuq empire introduced great work particularly in architecture and other fields of art. Architectural structures which gave an identity to the Seljukian art, as well as tile and ceramic art which developed in parallel with these structures were inherited from the Seljukians to the Ottomans. This inheritance also forms the basis of today‟s tile and ceramic art. The most important tile and ceramic production centers during the Ottoman period were İznik and Kütahya. İznik had its effectiveness in producing tile and ceramic in the 17th century, whereas Kütahya has brought this tradition to the present with workshops in the foreground. However, the tradition which has been brought to the present is nothing but an imitation. Sıtkı Olçar, a tile master from Kütahya has always aimed to produce new and authentic work by using the tradition instead of imitating what already exists. This study explores the Seljukian Period tile and ceramic art which forms the basis of today‟s tile and ceramic art and discusses the work produced by the deceased tile master Sıtkı Olçar interpreting the Seljukian period tile and ceramics.