Trabzon/Şalpazarı/Doğancı Neighborhood Central Mosque Hand Drawn Ornaments
Raziye Çiğdem Önal, Esra Özkan KoçHand-Drawn, one of the most important decorative branches of Ottoman art, was frequently used in the ornamentation of civil and religious architectural works throughout Anatolia. These ornaments, which varied according to the local characteristics of the geography and the artistic understanding of the period in which they were created, experienced dynamism in late Ottoman art with the use of new motifs, colors, and techniques. Under the influence of Western styles, the “capital style” in Istanbul, which has been evolving since the 18th century, spread to Anatolian cities that closely followed the art of the capital, resulting in a variety of “provincial styles” that differed from one another.
Hand-Drawn ornaments of the Şalpazarı Doğancı Neighborhood Central Mosque (1871-72) in Trabzon, which give an idea about the provincial characteristics of the Eastern Black Sea Region, the spirit, fashion, artistic taste, and appreciation of the period, are included in the scope of this study. The study aims to answer questions such as to what extent the changes in Ottoman art, which synthesized its style with Western styles, could be applied in the countryside and how local artists programmed the interior decorations of mosques. These hand-drawn ornaments, which were applied to the plaster, wood, and stone of the mosque, were analyzed in terms of motif range, stylistic features, and construction techniques.
Trabzon/Şalpazarı/Doğancı Mahallesi Merkez Camii Kalem İşi Süslemeleri
Raziye Çiğdem Önal, Esra Özkan KoçOsmanlı sanatının önemli tezyinat dallarından biri olan kalem işi, Anadolu genelinde sivil ve dinî mimari eserlerin süsleme programlarında sıklıkla kullanılmıştır. Bulunduğu coğrafyanın yerel özellikleri ile yapıldığı dönemin sanatsal anlayışına göre farklılaşan bu süslemeler, geç dönem Osmanlı sanatında yeni motiflerin, renklerin ve tekniklerin kullanımı ile bir dinamizm yaşamıştır. Batılı üslupların etkisiyle 18. yüzyıldan itibaren değişimin görüldüğü İstanbul’daki “başkent üslubu”, payitahtın sanatını sıkı takip eden Anadolu kentlerine de yayılmış ve birbirinden farklı şekillenen çeşitli “taşra üslupları”na sebep olmuştur.
Bu çalışmanın kapsamını Doğu Karadeniz Bölgesi’nin taşra özellikleri, dönemin ruhu, modası, sanat zevki ve beğenisi hakkında fikir veren Trabzon’daki Şalpazarı Doğancı Mahallesi Merkez Camii’nin (1871-1872) kalem işi süslemeleri oluşturmaktadır. Ayrıca Batılı üsluplarla kendi üslubunu sentezleyen Osmanlı sanatının geçirdiği değişimin kırsalda ne derece uygulanabildiği ve yerel sanatçıların camilerin iç mekân süslemelerini ne şekilde programladıkları gibi sorulara yanıt bulmak amaçlanmıştır. Cami genelinde sıva, ahşap ve taş malzemeye uygulanan ve nakkaşı bilinmeyen bu kalem işi süslemeler, motif dağarcığı, üslup özellikleri ve yapım teknikleri açısından irdelenmiştir.
It was a tradition during the Ottoman period that mosques, where the public both worshipped and socialized, which led to the mosques gaining importance, were built with different qualifications than other structures, and this varied among local artists who raised themselves as masters or artists in rural areas. The artists who have gained notoriety as a result of their travels have given the structures in the areas where they have visited a unique identity. Local artists who brought the empire’s art language into the countryside and blended it with the rural did not reflect their identities in their works, resulting in the emergence of anonymous art shaped by the master-apprentice relationship. These unique practices arose because of the locality being shaped by being blended with Western influences and are applied to stone, wood, and plaster.
The Black Sea Region, which is distinct from other regions in Anatolia due to its unique architectural identity, is the leading place in Anatolia where hand-drawn ornament is used extensively. Trabzon, located in the east of the Black Sea, is home to numerous structures with significant historical and artistic value in terms of architecture and ornament. Mosques which are evaluated in the religious structures group and have survived since the Ottoman period, are significant due to the interior ornaments, which reflect the fashion at the time and are associated with various symbolic meanings. One of these is the Central Mosque (1871 - 1872) in Doğancı neighbourhood (village) of Şalpazarı county in Trabzon. No information exists regarding the constructive, craftsman and miniaturist of the mosque built during the end of the 19th century, in which village settlement was started to be established.
Although it reflects the general characteristics of regional architecture, the mosque, which should be evaluated in the category of anonymous Anatolia works in terms of presenting significant data of folk art, differs from the mosques where it is in terms of the colorful interior hand-drawn ornaments. The ornaments are applied to stone, wood, and plaster materials. While the depictions on the main walls indicate the 19th century as the year of construction, the ornaments on the mihrab, chair, minbar, gathering-place rails, and columns carrying the gathering-place must have been built in the first half of the 20th century. The differences in color, style, and technical aspects used in the ornamentation of other architectural elements compared to the original wall ornaments indicate that the units could have been colored during the 1935 restoration. Furthermore, the color differences show that the ornaments throughout the building have recently been overhauled, and the deformed parts have been attempted to be completed. The extensive use of maroon and blue colors suggests that this attempt was made in or after 1967, the year Trabzonspor was founded.
The hand-drawn ornaments in the Doğancı Neighborhood Central Mosque shaped with botanical and geometrical designs, object designs, and writings demonstrate a composite order in which the changes brought about by Western style blended with the “traditional.” In mosque decorations, eclectic elements with the meaning of “Empire,” which was the art movement of the time, and the mixed style that emerged with eclectic identity can be found. The empiric effect can be seen in mosque decorations, such as the reflection of the frames on the window as a triangular pediment, which is a neoclassical application, the ancient effects seen in vase forms, the use of bay leaves and lotus flowers, the radial rod bundles that are frequently used in artworks at capitals, and the reflection of textile products such as curtains and tassels to art. The naturalism, density, and diversity seen in flower forms, leaf-filled S-curves, and C-S evoke neo-baroque, while attitudes such as the limitation of motifs with a contour, and the decoration of the entire surface with spring branches without leaving any space evoke rococo and reflect the eclectic style.
The flower, tree, and leaf depictions emerging out of the vase, among which different species such as starflower pomegranate flower and verbena which are plants mentioned in the Quran and recall heaven, have been identified, are the decorations that we encounter widely on the mosque body walls. The use of motifs representing flower, fruit, and tree species mentioned in the holy book and claimed to represent heaven in the mosque decoration plan should be related to keeping the image of heaven alive in the minds of the congregation and reminding them of what needs to be done to be rewarded with heaven. The inclusion of the minaret, which emphasizes the importance of prayer in “reaching heaven,” the tomb, which recalls themes such as “death” and “the hereafter,” and the clock, which also emphasizes the passage of time, in the decoration program supports this situation from an iconographic standpoint. Furthermore, the oil lamp seen on the tomb and on the mihrab, as well as the candlestick-candle motifs on the mihrab, are mentioned in the 35th verse of the Nur Surah in the Qur’an as tools representing the “light of Allah.” The world motif, which means “guiding, pointing, keeping the community in unity, gathered under,” on the mihrab, has symbolic meanings, such as the congregation’s unity and solidarity in the mosque.
With the rich iconographic expressions included in the motifs used in the decoration program, the mosque, is one of the best examples where the free expression of the artist’s mind and taste are expressed and the capital style is reflected in the country in terms of depictions on the wall, almost functions as a guide for Muslims to enter heaven. It is worth noting that the artist, who works technically entirely within his possibilities, skillfully paints plants for the area he will design motifs and creates diversity when designing vases, flowerpots, flower types, and leaf motifs by adding his unique interpretation, not with a single pattern.
The hand-drawn ornaments of the Şalpazarı/Doğancı Neighborhood Merkez Mosque, which combine Ottoman late-period mosque decoration tradition with a local sense of art, resisted the destructive effects of time and have survived to the present day. These hand-drawn ornaments, the subject of this article, provide insight into the world of thought and belief of the region’s people, as well as their taste, while also answering questions such as how the hand-drawn ornaments found in many parts of Anatolia are applied in the Eastern Black Sea region, to what extent the changing art language of the 19th century was reflected in the region, and how much traditional practices were included.
