Kütahya Ceramics

Kütahya has made ceramics since at least the fourteenth century, in parallel with İznik, and when İznik's workshops collapsed in the seventeenth century Kütahya carried on - which makes it the longest continuously working tile tradition in Turkey. Its palette and repertoire differ from İznik's: more yellow, a wider use of purple and green, and a strong line in figural work, including the Armenian workshops that produced ecclesiastical ware and the small painted tiles that turn up in Jerusalem's churches. Production runs from mass-market souvenir plates to serious hand-painted work by named masters, and the difference is visible - hand-painted pieces show brush variation, transfer-printed ones do not, and workshops will explain which is which if asked. The tile museum occupies a restored Ottoman complex, the old town has hans, mosques faced in local tile, and the Çini Sokağı concentrates the shops. Prices are far below Istanbul's.

What to look for

• The hand painting - brushwork on unfired glaze in the workshops.
• The Kütahya palette - yellows, purples and greens.
• The tile museum - historic work in a restored complex.
• The old town - hans and tiled mosques around the workshops.

When to go

Year-round; weekday working hours to see painters at the bench. Most workshops close on Sundays.

Practical notes

A great deal sold as Kütahya tile is transfer-printed rather than hand-painted - ask, and expect a real price difference. Larger workshops run on coach commissions. Ceramics need careful packing.

Nearby

Aizanoi and its Zeus temple are about an hour south; Eskişehir is north-east.