Re-figuring the unglazed earthenware of the Elazığ Museum on ceramic surfaces

The regions of Anatolia and Mesopotamia are the most ancient civilization centers. The fertile soil of the region as the central location of ceramic arts host many civilizations. Both Artukians of Mesopotamia and Anatolian Seljuks have a great range of ceramics, parallel to their historical background. The three earthenware jars, four unglazed figured ceramics, one of which is a jug, which have been exhibited in the Elazig Museum produced in Anatolia and Mesopotamia, underlie this study. The motives on "The Unglazed Earthenware jar in throne composition", "Broken and unglazed earthenware jar", "The Unglazed Earthenware in animal composition" and "The jug with double handles", all of which are produced for usage, are researched by surveying the development process of unglazed ceramics which are used from the antique ages to now. The element of motive is the most apparent common trait of tesselation which hits the headlines. The motives of tesselation in the same period of a nation or a region show the parallel qualifications. The adornment on unglazed and figured ceramics as the samples of the research illustrates the specialty of that period. Beside the esthetics of the works, the functionality of them are in the foreground. Because of the resistance to the freeze and the qualification to protect what it includes for so long, it is preferred today and used for similar areas of usage. In the first section of this research, the ceramic is defined and a short summary about the history of it from the early ages to nowadays. In the second section, the techniques of adorning and shaping the unglazed figured ceramics in Elazig Museum are introduced. In the third section, the general qualifications of unglazed ceramics in XII and XIV centuries. Then, information about the unglazed figured ceramics of Elazig Museum is given. In the fourth section, the figures which are studied on four unglazed earthenware jars in the Elazig Museum are interpreted in modern literature on two or three dimensional surfaces in the light of findings from the method of literature review. The techniques and procedures which are used in the process are explained. Keywords: Figure, Unglazed ceramics, Earthenware jars, the Elazig Museum.