Kütahya Ceramic Border Tile in the Iznik Manner

A Kütahya ceramic border tile made in the second quarter of the twentieth century, during the revival of Iznik-style fritware decoration. After Iznik production declined in the eighteenth century, Kütahya became the principal regional center for tile manufacture, where Armenian and Turkish workshops continued to produce Iznik-derived designs for architectural use, mosque restoration projects above all.

The layout is typical of the border format: a rectangular field with scrolling saz-style foliage and multicolor floral motifs. The surface carries a heavy application of Armenian red bole, a defining characteristic of late Ottoman and early Republican Kütahya wares, laid on thickly to give warmth and chromatic contrast against turquoise, cobalt and emerald glazes.

Likely produced as part of a restoration order, the tile appears to be a workshop reject that nonetheless retained its full design intention, a record of the transitional industrial craft of Kütahya potters adapting classical Iznik iconography to modern installation. It measures approximately 7.9 × 4.3 × 0.63 inches (200 × 110 × 16 mm) and weighs about 1 lb 15 oz (0.88 kg).