The Canakkale ceramics that constitute the Suna & Inan KIRAC collection are comprehensive both in terms of their numbers and the rich variety of interesting forms that they represent. This catalogue comprises two hundred and thirty-two items of Canakkale ware as well as sixteen more items produced by other local workshops, all of which have been classified according to their form and function.
Almost all Canakkale ceramics in the Kirac Collection are of red earthenware, and leading the procession are two jars (kup) that echo one another through their bulbous bodies and double handles adjoining the neck (62-61). Decorated with rather abstract landscapes and stylized floral patterns painted in brown over a white slip, both jars are relatively early samples, being dated to the 18th century.
Then come plates (tabak) of various sizes and decorative patterns (181-186). Several large and shallow plates that are dated to the late 18th century display decorations in yellow, orange and cobalt blue that have been laid on with free, sweeping brushstrokes (181-178). They are usually bordered with latticework patterns, while at the center one finds floral rosettes filled in with curving, stylized foliage and edged with lacework. Over time, these floral rosettes assume triangular shape (180-17). Two plates dated to the early 19th century attract attention for their sailing ships that have been painted in reddish brown over the glaze (19-18). Many of the remaining plates in the collection, though, come to be more and more abstractly decorated as their bodies get deeper in shape (131). Now, strings of droplets run around the rims, while the center is taken over by curving, stylized foliage and wheels-of-fortune. Dark brown and manganese purple are the dominant colours, laid on with free strokes of the brush, and finished with a colourless transparent or a light-yellow transparent glaze. On a last group of plates dated to the early 20th century (142-186), the white slip has been randomly dripped over the red body and then finished with green and yellow glazes to achieve a different kind of decorative effect. Here, a large skimmer (186) catches the eye as a particularly striking example of this approach.
The deep dishes (sahan), with or without lids, that are part of the Kirac Collection (72-74) are like virtual replicas of one another except for their exact dimensions and other, minor details. Some with foliate rims have been finished with a green or brown glaze and then decorated with gilded, stylized floral patterns over the glaze; in one case the slip has been randomly dripped over the body and then finished with a yellow glaze; others, though, have been drip-glazed in several colours to end up looking like marbled paper. All are of late 19th or early 20th century vintage.
Mugs (masrapa) that, like these dishes, are all dated to the late 19th or the early 20th century (66-69), are distinguishable by their flat or braided handles despite their common decorative characteristics. Some have a monochrome green or brown glaze, while others have received multi-coloured drip-glazing. Leaves and flowers in relief are to be found alongside curving, stylized foliage and floral patterns gilded or painted over the glaze.
More or less the same types of decorative schemes are repeated on the double-handled pots (cömlek, 27-143) and the jugs (testi, 46-51) that are so richly represented in this collection. The bulbous jugs with long, narrow necks and either plain or braided handles that are all dated to the 19th century have been grouped by their type of mouth. Thus there are those with flat rims (51) as well as those with beak-like spouts (41), those with long and projecting, siphon-like spouts (45-187-160), those shaped like a horse's head (54), and finally those shaped like a bird's head with its lips curling away from one another (182-50).
In jugs with beak-like spouts, the mouth has a built-in strainer and the lid has been fixed in place. Hence, these as well as jugs with long and projecting, siphon-like spouts have a round or triangular opening behind the head for filling the jug, as well as eye-like rosettes in relief on both sides of the beak-like mouth. Prevailing patterns of glazing and decoration are similar to those on mugs. Usually, there will be a monochrome yellow, green or brown glaze overlaid with floral rosettes, leaves, star-and-crescent patterns or representations of the Ottoman coat-of-arms in relief, further embellished with gilding over the glaze, and frequently interspersed with floral boughs or sprigs again painted over the glaze. In other samples, however, multi-coloured glazes have been dripped over the standard white slip. All these jugs have a special place in Turkish maternity customs. The special syrupy drink (logusa serbeti) that would be mixed and boiled after a successful delivery would be distributed in jugs to all friends, relatives and neighbors. If the baby was a boy, a red ribbon would be tied to the neck of a jug with a long and projecting spout, while if the baby was a girl, a jug with a beak-like spout would have a piece of red gauze tied to its mouth.
In another group of jugs dated to the late 19th or the early 20th century, the mouth is shaped like the head of a horse with its wings laid along the neck and its tail as the handle, while an eagle spreads its wings on the bulbous body, flanked by projecting hollows intended to hold candles or flowers. The glazing is usually green or brown, with most decorations in relief gilded, and other surface decorations like floral boughs painted, over the glaze.
Among jugs with stylized bird's head mouths, those with lips curling away from one another have a particularly exaggerated appearance. Frequently, a monochrome green or purple glaze is utilized, while decorations in relief are likely to consist of floral rosettes bearing bird motifs.
Another group of jugs features narrower bodies, high feet, and either flat or beak-shaped mouths (185). With single as well as double-handled samples, they may collectively be dated to the late 19th or the early 20th century. The bodies are decorated with floral rosettes, leaves, crescents and garlands in relief, as well as floral boughs painted over the glaze.
Yet another group within the Kirac Collection comprises bottles (sise) with pear-shaped bodies and long necks (35-138). Glazes may be yellow, green or brown; the necks are usually surrounded by a border of floral rosettes in relief; the upper bodies display other floral rosettes, leaves and crescents in relief. Alongside 19th century samples, there are also early 20th
century products that have received multi-coloured drip-glazing to acquire a marbled paper appearance.
Ewers (ibrik) are generally of bulbous shape, with long narrow necks, long spouts, and either plain or braided handles (151-165). One item dated to the early 20th century stands out with its spout shaped like the head of a cockerel (165). Glazing is usually green or brown, though there are samples that have received multi-coloured drip-glazing. Floral rosettes in relief are the most common form of decoration on the body.
Ring-shaped jugs (halka testi) are also represented in the Kirac Collection (23). Featuring everted rims, long spouts and high feet, some have a monochrome green or yellow glazing while others have been drip-glazed to a marbled paper appearance. Decorated with floral rosettes and leaves in relief, these, too, are datable to the late 19th or the early 20th century.
The Kirac Collection includes numerous samples of animal or human figurines. Of late 19th or early 20th century vintage, they seem to have served as water containers, sugar bowls, boxes or spice-shakers. Those shaped like horses (117-116), bulls (120), lions (105-106), camels (114-113) or fish (163) would have been filled with water, usually from a raised opening on the back, and poured out through the mouth. The tail curls over the back to form a handle, and details like eyes, mouth, mane, saddle, etc are added in clay-paste application technique. Tortoise-shaped items are likely to have been intended as boxes (110), and swan-figurines as bowls (108-109). Some that probably were sugar bowls or spice-shakers have lids decorated with birds or other animal figurines (87-85-89-91). Sugar bowls with efe-shaped lids, commonly featured among Canakkale ware, are represented in this collection only by their surviving lids (101). Here the efe figurine is finely detailed from the sash at his waist to the tassel on his cap. In those rare samples that have survived intact, the efe is portayed sitting and dangling his legs, and the bowls that these lids covered are seen to have rested on high feet. Most sugar bowls are polychromatically drip-glazed.
Another group of ceramics have basket-woven sides, bird or fruit decorations on the inside, and are thought to have been used as bowls, trays, plates, or sugar-bowls (92). Polychromatically drip-glazed over a white slip to attain a marbled paper appearance, they are of an ornamental character.
The Kirac Collection also includes leaf-shaped plates (6-8). On the backs of two of them is an inscription meaning "Souvenir of the Gallipoli Expedition" in Italian, and souvenirs were precisely what they were produced as (6-7). Plates with sharply delineated veins, with other leaves and floral rosettes attached to the handle on both sides, are of early 20th century vintage.
Some Canakkale ceramics are barrel-shaped fluid containers laid horizontally, either on four wheels, or a high foot, or without a foot or base (173-94). They have filling holes on top and a pouring tap at one end. In one sample, there are two adjacent, symmetrical barrels resting on a high foot (94). Dated to the late 19th or the early 20th century, they have been decorated with flowers in relief and finished with a dark brown or an orange glaze.
Jars (kup) of a later period, with domed lids and double handles adjoining their bulbous bodies, have been glazed green all over, and decorated with large leafy motifs in relief (175-63).
Braziers (mangal) of varying dimensions constitute another group among the Kirac Collection of Canakkale ware. Spherical in shape with their lids on, and resting on high pedestal feet, they have usually been finished with a green glaze. Dated to the late 19th or the early 20th century, their lids bear a varying number of holes (depending on their size), and their bodies are decorated with leaves and floral rosettes in relief (78-79).
Also included in the Kirac Collection are gas lamps shaped like model ships (97), each resting on a base, and finely detailed so as to qualify as an object d'art. Dated like the braziers to the late 19th or the early 20th century, they all carry a dark brown glaze but have achieved a colourful appearance by being painted over the glaze.
Canakkale ceramics of a rather late period that are included in the Kirac Collection comprise: writing sets (99-100), a pen holder (102), a vase bearing Ataturk's face mask (164), an oil lamp (157), spice-shakers with double bowls or shaped like a pair of shoes (135), a kettle, a plate, a vase (134), and a bird-shaped ashtray. All are objects of daily use, dated to the early 20th century, and polychromatically drip-glazed over a white slip to attain a marbled paper appearance.
As a port city, Canakkale was geared more to souvenir production, while local workshops elsewhere in Anatolia tended to concentrate on pottery of daily use. These were based on a body that was denser and darker coloured than Canakkale ware, finished with a monochrome yellow or a green glaze. In the Suna and Inan Kirac Collection, they are represented by the odd jar, jug, ewer, mug, moneybox and water flask as well as other, animal-shaped vessels (154-147). Jars are usually finely hatched or etched, while jugs and ewers display an ornamentation of floral boughs or tiny bits of putty applied to the body in barbutin technique. Tokat ceramics, which are similar enough to Canakkale ware to be often confused with them, are also represented in the Kirac Collection (154-156).

Hülya YILMAZ
(Canakkale Seramics, Istanbul, 1996)