'Eser-i İstanbul' stamped porcelain production in 19th century

In 1845, a porcelain factory was built in Incirkoy, located in Beykoz region, by Ahmed Fethi Pasha, a statesman originally from Rhodes. This factory is the first industrial-scale attempt at porcelain manufacturing in the 19th century in the Ottoman Empire, which had produced many examples of ceramics and tiles throughout the previous centuries. With the industrialisation movement starting in the 19th century, many industrial facilities were formed within the Ottoman Empire aimed at increasing local production capacity by bringing in machines and foreign experts from Europe. As a result of these attempts, Beykoz became an industrial zone, due to its geographical advantages, with the majority of factories built in this region. 'Eser-i Istanbul' stamped porcelain production that started in this region was the first step in a transition in Ottoman material culture from ceramics to porcelain. From the archive documents analysed in the thesis study, it appears that the porcelain factory referred to as Beykoz Plate Factory or Incirkoy Factory is the same factory as the Beykoz Tile and Crystal Factory, known to be built by Ahmed Fethi Pasha. The contemporaneous written and visual sources reveal that porcelain and glass material, which in the past had developed simultaneously in the Ottoman Empire, were being manufactured in this factory together. This study, which analyses and evaluates the material, technique, form and decoration of porcelains from various museum inventories which can be identified as bearing the 'Eser-i Istanbul' stamp, aims to be a source on the development of porcelain material, the years of manufacture, operation of the factory and the qualification of the pieces. Keywords Eser-i Istanbul, Porcelain, Production, Factory, Beykoz, Incirkoy, 19th Century