Ceramics has always been a field of cultural appropriation and there may have been little ceramic art without it. One of the most obvious cases is the appropriation of material culture both by and from Turkish potters. Istanbul’s great glory is its Iznik tiled mosques, so I was disappointed to find that, athough the walls of the Topkapı Palace are gorgeously tiled, the Palace’s collection of ceramics is from China, not from Iznik. If you want to see Iznik pottery, go to London, where the British Museum has the best collection in the world.
The development of Iznik pottery was motivated by the desire to imitate Chinese porcelain, which was done in a roundabout way, covering the local greyish clay with fine white slip then painting it in brilliant colours under a clear glaze. There are Chinese motifs on Iznik vessels, with their characteristically Turkish decorations of tulips, carnations and saz leaves, in the form of the cloud patterns round the margins of plates. The Chinese returned the compliment by taking Iznik motifs and painting them in blue and white on porcelain dishes for export.This Turkish pottery was naturally admired everywhere. In Britain in the 19th century it was copied and adapted without understanding. Its origins weren’t known because the Iznik manufactories were long gone. As every visitor to Turkey discovers, Iznik designs are sold everywhere, but the pottery comes from Kütahya now.
This Turkish pottery was naturally admired everywhere. In Britain in the 19th century it was copied and adapted without understanding. Its origins weren’t known because the Iznik manufactories were long gone. As every visitor to Turkey discovers, Iznik designs are sold everywhere, but the pottery comes from Kütahya now.
Under these confused names, Iznik patterns were put on tiles, which were all the rage at the time. Some were made by hand by William de Morgan for Sir Frederic Leighton’s Arab Hall, many more were produced in industrial quantities by Minton Hollins. The “Persian” style was freely adapted and elaborated by Crown Derby, with raised gilt patterns, to make amazing bling for export to the USA. Homage was also paid to the Iznik potters by the Cantagalli company in Italy, who made much closer copies.
MARSHALL COLMAN 
You have picked up on many of my favourite themes here. The collection of Iznik ceramics is not on display at the Topkapi as you point out – it was stored in the kitchens when it was in use there and was considered much less precious than the Chinese wares. A small collection is on display in the Cinili Kiosk which is the tiled pavilion (and earliest surviving building from the Topkapi Palace complex – it dates to 1472) opposite the Archaeological Museum.
The ‘Damascus’ style of Iznik pottery is so-named because a group of potters were dispatched to Damascus via Jerusalem in the time of Sultan Suleyman (1520-66) and subsequent tile and pottery production in Syria was in the style current at Iznik – the palette used purple, turquoise, sage green and dark blue but without the addition of red which was introduced to Iznik in the 1550s.
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I very much enjoyed your paper on ‘Colouring the Surface: A Taste for ‘Persian’ Tiles in English Domestic Architecture, 1870–1914’, which I read while researching Richard Lunn, who taught this style of pottery at the RCA, 1901-1915. The last time I was in Istanbul was 2006 and my memory of the Topkapi Palace may have become a bit confused since then. I appreciate this helpful information. Thank you.
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