Discussion: Celestial Blue - The Tiles of Iznik
The centuries-old ceramic tiles embellishing the mosques of Istanbul and Edirne, with their shiny crack-free surfaces and bright colours, are a source of amazement. The attentive observer, however, will notice that individual tiles have faded and become brittle: these are the newer, lower-quality tiles that have been used to replace originals lost to fire or earthquakes. Knowledge of their production, which reached its artistic and technical peak during the late sixteenth century, was lost shortly thereafter - not to be rediscovered for about 400 years. However, the quality achieved in the sixteenth century was never again attained, and it was not until twenty years ago that the Iznik Foundation made funds available for research of these ceramics.
