I am a ceramic plate and I was born in the mid 16th century in İznik, Turkey. I remember my birthday and the artists who created me. There were many production phases for me to come to life. I was lying as a handful of soil on the hills of İznik and some people came and pick me up. They took me to their workshop and turned me into clay. Later, somebody remolded me and gave me the shape of a plate with c.30x30cm diameters. I was afraid of being there because I heard that they were going to fire us, that is, me and my friends who are in the shape of plates, vases and cups. Yes, they fired us again and again.
After the first fire process, they drew lots of blue dots and lines onto my surface. Then, I realized that these dots were not randomly drawn but they were drawn and painted with three dotted groups as if they constituted a triangle. In addition, under every three dotted motif there were short lines and also there was a big blue curvy line surrounding the edges of the plate. What were they? Did they have a meaning?
Moreover, before I was fired for the last time, they covered me with glaze and again they fired me for hours and hours. While I was waiting inside the oven with my poor friends, I heard some voices from outside. Some people were talking about us and saying that these three dotted motif and the short line under it is called “çintemani motif” which was created for the sultan and his imperial family. Furthermore, this motif was also used on the objects, like me, on the ceramic tiles, panels and textiles of the high ranking officials of the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, this meant that it was such a highly hierarchical system that ordinary people could not use this motif in their houses. I was very excited because I thought that I would probably go either to the sultan’s palace or to some other place that belonged to a very important and powerful person living in the Ottoman Empire.
Thereafter, they packed me to be carried to Istanbul. I came to a pasha’s palace and they put me on one shelf of the kitchen. I looked around and realized that there were many plates and vases that had çintemani motifs on them. I said hello to other friends, including to a water-bottle who seemed to me very friendly, and I learnt from them that we would be serving on the days which the pasha gave feasts. Because the production of us cost a lot of money for the pasha, he wanted to show off with us in those banquet days. In addition, he wanted to emphasize his power by displaying objects which contain imperial motifs on them.
Nevertheless, after ten years of serving in Istanbul, in the pasha’s palace, the pasha was exiled to Egypt because of several disputes in the sultan’s palace. I was packed and was carried to Egypt. Two years later, because of the financial problems of the pasha, I was sold in a marketplace. Those were the years that I had many owners who bought me and resold in the marketplace. I traveled many places and saw many people. I was always a very important object for the people since I represented a kind of power and wealth. Approximately thirty years ago, I was sold in an auction to a very wealthy woman, Sadberk Koç. She was a collector of antique pieces and I had no idea about the fact that she would be my last owner. In her house, they put me in a showcase with many friends all around. After Sadberk Hanım’s death, her house was turned to a museum and, currently, I live in the Sadberk Hanım Museum, in Sarıyer.
Even if I am almost five hundred years old, I must say that my life is going on and I see many people, museum visitors, every day. They look at me just for a few seconds and turn their heads to another ceramic friend next to me. Under the shelf that I am sitting on in comfort, there is a label which put me in the category of ‘İznik Tiles and Ceramics-Mid16th century’. I know I am a ceramic plate which was born in the 16th century but am I just this? I mean I served for very important people and I always felt that I am a very significant piece. I represent the imperial taste, the hierarchic political system of the Ottoman Empire. Do I deserve to be seen as an ordinary plate from the 16th century? I just want people to learn from me and to understand me, to give meaning to my beautiful çintemani motifs. There is a wall text hanging close to me, which basically gives information about the İznik ceramics but it does not say anything about me and my motifs. Therefore, I feel like nobody cares about me. At least, they could put a label next to me that explains what I am and to whom I might have served. Am I just an old object, a plate sitting on a museum shelf?

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