2018-2019 KAZI SEZONLARINDA İZNİK ÇİNİ FIRINLARI KAZISI’NDA ELE GEÇEN BASKI DEKORLU SERAMİKLERİN VE SEÇİLİ ÖRNEKLER ÜZERİNDEN pXRF CİHAZI İLE YAPILAN ANALİZ SONUÇLARININ DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ

Abstract

Iznik reached the peak of its ceramic and tile production between the 14th- and17th- centuries. Recent findings at the Iznik Tile Kilns Excavation carried out inthe BHD coded excavation area in Iznik District center revealed that ceramicshad been produced there using an impressed/moulded technique , whichwas widely used in non-Anatolian Islamic ceramic art. These types of ceramics, which are thought to have beenintensively produced after Iznik passed into Ottoman administration in 1331, were classified into two main groupsin terms of their forms and decorations. Moreover, during the 2019 excavation season, characterization studies werecarried out using a portable XRF (pXRF) instrument on seven selected samples in order to determine the body,slip and glaze composition. The results showed that the sample without a slip contained calcium-rich clay (highcalcium and high alumina). The analyses of the molding materials confirmed earlier studies which had determinedthat the paste used (the third type of paste) had been calcareous or calcium-rich clay. Moreover, the sample withslip contains a greater amount of quartz (55.4 wt%) than the sample without slip (44.2 wt%). Of interest is that thesherd which is covered with a turquoise glaze contains 24.6 wt% lead-oxide (PbO) and 6 wt% tin oxide (SnO2). Thisglaze composition may indicate that the artifact was produced in the earlier period of Iznik production, namely atthe end of the 15th century. Another glazed mold from among the samples analysed does not contain any tin oxideand has a higher amount of PbO which indicates a later production date (17th- century). The pXRF measurementresults suggest that the mold may have been produced in an earlier period, and then glazed later for decorativeand/or technical purposes.Keywords: Iznik, Ceramics, Moulded ware, pXRF, Characterization