Ceramics.

After carpets and kilims, Turkey’s ceramics are famous for their beauty and perfection and are popular souvenirs. I had certainly checked out ceramics in Istanbul but I needed to learn a little about them and to see a variety of qualities and prices. There are endless shops with pottery and ceramics of all shapes and sizes and prices but I soon tired of looking at the same thing over and over again and started to be a little more discerning. I was on the hunt for one or two tiles and I wanted some orange in them. I didn’t realize how difficult that would be. There are few pieces with orange on them. I was also keen to see as many truly beautiful pieces as I could.


In Cappadocia, we visited a beautiful ceramic studio in Avanos. I felt as if I had discovered Aladin’s Cave. In fact, the factory is in a cave. We were given a demonstration of making a piece on a wheel and shown some magnificent pieces from the factory. We walked through the studio where master craftsmen/women were hand painting intricate pieces. Oh to have the patience and steady hand to be able to produce such things.

Oh happy day, so many beautiful things in one place. Although I couldn’t afford the tile I wanted (about $240 AUS), I can remember it. Truly beautiful.

I continued searching without any luck. There are plenty blue and white tiles similar to the Iznik tiles and with beautiful patterns but that’s not what I wanted. I wanted something with a touch of orange on it. I had seen some in Istanbul and had them in the back of my mind but was hoping to find something that really caught my eye and budget.

We were on the last leg of our trip around Selcuk and had made the rounds of a leather factory, an onyx factory, a jewelry factory and it seemed as if we wouldn’t have time to visit the ceramic factory. I had resigned myself to revisiting the shop in Istanbul and hoping their range included something close to what I wanted or even giving the whole thing a miss. After all, life can continue quite happily without a Turkish tile. We were asked if we wanted to visit the ceramic factory and I said a very definite “Yes!” and off we went leaving others to buy up on leather goods. It was Aladin’s brother’s cave, full of striking things and a wall full of superb tiles and a couple of them with orange on them. After all my searching, I thought it would be easy to make a decision but I couldn’t and it was time to leave. So I decided to take the one that first caught my eye. It’s beautiful and I love it.  It contains pictures of tulips in the centre.  Did you know that tulips originally came from Turkey?  I didn't until an indignant person answered my question about why there were so many tulips in Turkish art.  Click on the photo to see how beautiful it really is.

Next Cats in Turkey.