Traditional Turkish Hand Crafts has formed a rich mosaic by
bringing together its genuine values with the cultural
heritage of the different civilizations which were coming from
the thousand years of history of the Anatolia.
Traditional Turkish Hand Crafts can be listed as; carpet
making, rug making, sumac, cloth waiving, writing, tile making,
ceramic-pottery, handwork making, making embroidery, leather
manufacturing, music instrument making, masonry, coppersmith,
basket making, saddle making, mining, felt making, weaving,
wood handicraft, cart making etc.
CERAMICS
Pottery, the
first common preoccupation of societies, is the most important
invention of the Neolithic Era. This handicraft has become a
cultural treasure by developing in Anatolia throughout history.
Throughout the time from the first ages, with its enhancing
motifs and raw material being clay; a mixture of metal,
nonmetal and oxide, it has turned into a work of art that
reflects societies' sensitivity, cultural accumulation,
religious beliefs, relationships and lives within society. The
art of ceramics which developed in Anatolia reached its
highest level of technique and aesthetic especially during the
Seljuk and Ottoman periods. Other branches of ceramics could
be grouped as the art of tile making, brick and roof tile
production..
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METALWORK PRODUCTS
Metalwork, which has a
very important place in our traditional handicrafts, has a
long period of improvement. This improvement that starts from
central Asia continues with the great Seljuk, Anatolian Seljuk
and moves on to the Ottoman empire. Copper which has a very
important place in Anatolian art is a metal suitable for
ornamenting. It has been used as apart of daily objects like
kitchen utensils, jewelery, and helmets and as part of
building like doors and door ornamenting. Copper is the most
used metal in metalwork. There are four techniques that are
used in making copper utensils; pounding, moulding, turnery
and milling. Copper which is currently the most processed
metal has a wide span of usage as kitchen utensils with its
tinning technique.
GLASS PRODUCTS
Selected the European Museum of
the Year in 1997, the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is
located on the hill with Ankara's ancient Citadel, in the
district called Atpazari (the horse market). The Museum
occupies two Ottoman buildings which have been specifically
renovated and altered to suit their new role.
In accordance with the suggestion by Atatürk that a Hittite
Museum should be established, an Anatolian Civilizations
project was initiated to gather all artifacts, remnants and
other findings of the Hittite civilization in Ankara. Thus
launched, the project has grown into one of world's most
significant museums sheltering unique collections.
The museum has Paleolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Late
Bronze Age, Hittite, Phrygia, Urartu and Late Hittite sections.
EATHER – BONE - HORN PRODUCTS
It is possible to classify
handicrafts that are made of leather, fur, horns and bones
according to the materials used and their purpose of usage.
Other types of handicrafts that can be added to this category
would be; making of yemeni (hand-made authentic leather shoes)
and çarık (rawhide sandals), bookbinding, shadow-show puppets,
utensils and wool handicraft.
WOODWORK PRODUCTS
Having improved in the Anatolian Seljuk period, wood carving
has its own unique characteristics and was first meant to
cater for needs rather than aesthetics or taste. Wood carving
was used in architecture during the Seljuk and Beylic periods
and later on during the Ottoman period it was used in both
architecture and for daily objects. The trees that are used
for woodwork are walnut, apple, pear, cedar, ebony and
rosewood and as for ornamenting techniques like inlay,
painting, kundekari, embossed carvings and lattice are used.
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TEXTILE PRODUCTS
Embroidery is a form of art that reflects the Turkish
society’s cultural richness, strength and talents totally.
Embroidery has arisen from the taste of ornamenting daily
objects or clothing. Turkish embroidery has a 2000 year
history and the oldest sample belongs to the Seljuk period.
Embroideries are done by applications of threads like silk,
wool, linen, cotton, metal etc with various needles and
application techniques on to materials like felt, leather, and
woven fabric etc..
CARPETS – KILIMS
“The Art of Carpeting” that
started with the Pazirik carpets has always been lead by Turks
throughout history. Carpets that are the fundamental
traditional form of Turkish art have a special place in our
art history. As being our traditional art, Turkish carpets,
that have existed until today with their everlasting textile
motives and techniques of knots, have a unique characteristic
that has enabled them to develop regularly and constantly.
While Kilim weaving is a type of weaving called 'weft-facing'
i,e done by drawing the weft yarn under and over warp yarns
tightly so that they hide the warp yarns. On the other hand,
carpet weaving is a type done by lining threads like cotton,
animal hair, silk and wool to form the warp frame and by tying
knots to every double warp yarn with wool, silk, floss threads
with different techniques and by tightening the weft yarns on
top.
STONEWORK
“The Art of Carpeting” that
started with the Pazirik carpets has always been lead by Turks
throughout history. Carpets that are the fundamental
traditional form of Turkish art have a special place in our
art history. As being our traditional art, Turkish carpets,
that have existed until today with their everlasting textile
motives and techniques of knots, have a unique characteristic
that has enabled them to develop regularly and constantly.
While Kilim weaving is a type of weaving called 'weft-facing'
i,e done by drawing the weft yarn under and over warp yarns
tightly so that they hide the warp yarns. On the other hand,
carpet weaving is a type done by lining threads like cotton,
animal hair, silk and wool to form the warp frame and by tying
knots to every double warp yarn with wool, silk, floss threads
with different techniques and by tightening the weft yarns on
top.
MARBLING
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The art of marbling on paper, or
'ebru' in Turkish, is a traditional decorative form employing
special methods. The word 'ebru' comes from the Persian word 'ebr,'
meaning 'cloud.' The word 'ebri' then evolved from this,
assuming the meaning 'like a cloud' or 'cloudy,' and was
assimilated into Turkish in the form 'ebru.' Marbling does
actually give the impression of clouds. Another possible
derivation of the word 'ebru' is from the Persian 'âb-rûy,'
meaning 'face water.'
Although it is not known when and in which country the art of
marbling was born, there is no doubt that it is a decorative
art peculiar to Eastern countries. A number of Persian sources
report that it first emerged in India. It was carried from
India to Persia, and from there to the Ottomans. According to
other sources, the art of marbling was born in the city of
Bukhara in Turkistan, finding its way to the Ottomans by way
of Persia. In the West, 'ebru' is known as 'Turkish paper.'
CALLIGRAPHY
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The first thing that comes to
mind whenever calligraphy is mentioned is the decorative use
of Arabic letters. This art emerged after a long period
between the 6th and 10th centuries as Arabic letters evolved.
After turning to Islam and adopting the Arabic alphabet, the
Turks failed to play any part in the art of calligraphy for a
long time. They first began to show an interest in it after
moving to Anatolia, and the Ottoman period was one of the
times during which it flourished most. Yakut-ı Mustasımi was
particularly influential in Anatolia from the beginning of the
13th century to the middle of the 15th. Şeyh Hamdullah
(1429-1520) made a number of changes to the rules introduced
by Yakut-ı Mustasımi, thus giving Arabic letters are warmer,
softer appearance. Şeyh Hamdullah is regarded as the father of
Turkish calligraphy, and his style and influence predominated
until the 17th century. It was Hafız Osman (1642-1698) who
produced the art's most aesthetically mature period. All the
great calligraphers who came after basically followed in Hafız Osman's footsteps
ILLUMINATION AND GILDING
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Known as 'tezhip' in Turkish,
this is an old decorative art. The word 'tezhip' means 'turning
gold' or 'covering with gold leaf' in Arabic. Yet 'tezhip' can
be done with paint as well as with gold leaf. It was mostly
employed in handwritten books and on the edges of calligraphic
texts.
The art of ilumination has been practiced as widely in the
West as it has in the East. In the Middle Ages in particularly
it was widely used to decorate Christian religious texts and
prayer books. Gradually however, picture illustrations became
more popular, and illumination became restricted to decorating
the capital letters in main headings.
Among the Turks, the history of illumination goes back to the
Uyghurs, and first began to be seen among the Uyghur people in
the 9th century. The Selujks then brought it to Anatolia, and
the art saw its culmination in Ottoman times. Mameluke artists
in 15th century Egypt developed their own style, and great
advances in the art of illumination were made at the same time
in Persia and then in such cities as Herat, Hive, Bukhara and
Samarkand which were ruled by the Timurs. The style that
developed in Herat later had great influence on the Persian
art of illimunation. As a result of growing ties with Persia
in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Ottomans adopted many of
the features of the Herat School in their own work, and
created new syntheses. In the 18th century, the Ottoman art of
illumination began to fade, with crude decoration replacing
the classical motifs. In the 19th century, the Western
influence that could be seen in almost all areas of art also
began to make its presence felt in the art of illumination.
For example, flower motifs that used to be employed singly on
vases during the classical period now began to appear in
groups in pots.
MINIATURE
WORK
This is the name given to the art
of producing very finely detailed, small paintings. In Europe
in the Middle Ages, handwritten manuscripts would be decorated
by painting capital letters red. Lead oxide, known as 'minium'
in Latin and which gave a particularly pleasant colour, was
used for this purpose. That is where the word 'miniature'
derives from. In Turkey, the art of miniature painting used to
be called 'nakış' or 'tasvir,' with the former being more
commonly employed. The artist was known as a 'nakkaş' or 'musavvir.'
Miniature work was generally applied to paper, ivory and
similar materials.
The miniature is an art style
with a long history in both the Eastern and Western worlds.
There are those, however, who maintain that it was originally
an Eastern art, from where it made its way to the West.
Eastern and Western miniature art is very similar, although
differences can be observed in colour, form and subject matter.
Scale was kept small since the art was used to decorate books.
That is a common characteristic. Eastern and Turkish
miniatures also possess a number of other features. The
outside of the miniature is usually decorated with a form of
embellishment known as 'tezhip.' Paint similar to water colour
was used for miniatures, although rather more gum Arabic was
used during the mixing process. Very thin brushes made from
cat fur known as 'fur brushes' were used to draw the lines and
fill in the fine detail. Other brushes were employed for the
painting itself. White lead with gum Arabic added was applied
to the surface of the paper to be painted. A thin coat of gold
powder would also be applied to the surface to make the
various colours transparent.
Note
: quoted from goturkey.com