The interpretations of the animal figurations on ceramic surfaces belonging to the encaustic tiles of Kubad Abad Palace

The human race, as social beings, has carried on their life in a community since prehistoric times. In terms of sheltering issue, human beings have gone through a time tunnel by transitions from caves to the tents or from primitive shelters to the palaces by means of migrations which enabled them to gather different cultural elements from each land they visited.Turkish clans, who had to migrate from Central Asia steppes due to some certain reasons, also built several unique structures on the lands they settled like by getting stronger and bigger in order to found an independent state. These structures include gorgeous examples of different rest houses, Turkish baths, caravanserais, temples or palaces.The Anatolian territory, which has opened its doors to Turkish people as a result of the Battle of Manzikert commanded by Sultan Alparslan in 1071, still provides evidences of Turkish history thanks to the cultural heritages inherited from Seljuks. Seljuks of Anatolia, who experienced their best time period with Alaaddin Keykubat, were able to synthesize the different cultural components in the historical process by making Turkish culture and Turkish art reach the peak. During this term, in which unique masterpieces of architecture occurred, especially palaces and mansions stand out with the materials used during their construction, such as stone, brick, wood and encaustic tile. The art of Anatolian Seljuks, formed as a result of cultural synthesis, keeps the religion of Islam in itself as a common constituent. As for the different characteristics in style and format between the arts of Anatolian Seljuks and Great Seljuks, it resulted from the influence of Byzantine culture.The architectural encaustic tiles used in Seljukian palaces and mansions, are representatives of Seljuks? interest and success in the art of encaustic tiles. Namely; Mansion of Seljuk Sultan Kılıçarslan II in Konya, Keykubadiye Palace, Alanya Palace, Mansion of Aspendos and Kubad Abad Palace are just a few examples of palaces decorated with those encaustic tiles.Kubad Abad Palace is a place which was constructed by Alaaddin Keykubat during his Antalya-Alanya expedition in 1235-1236. The architecture of the palace which was designed as a complex of buildings adjacent to a mosque is known to be the famous vizier Sadettin Köpek. The palace which consists of 16 structures each differing in their sizes, is divided into three sections as Big Palace, Small Palace and Maiden?s Castle. The complex of buildings belonging to the palace which was found by Konya curator M. Zeki Oral in 1949, came to light with the help of excavations and investigations carried out by Prof. Dr. Otto Dorn in 1965-1966. Kubad Abad Palace which was discovered as wrecked and ruined, took its place in Turkish art by being taken out from the underground as a result of excavations carried by Prof. Dr. Rüçhan Arık since 1980. During the excavations, investigators came across plenty of encaustic plates in the forms of octagonal stars or crosses which represents that the art of encaustic tiles was adopted and applied on the walls masterly by Seljuks. These plates which decorate the walls of palace by interlacing each other were applied with the use of under-glaze and lustre techniques. The encaustic tiles painted with the colors like turquoise, manganese, cream-colored and black, possess decoration elements in plantal, figurative, geometric and writing forms.The encaustic tiles on which the animal figures were applied intensely, bear the stamp of the Central Asia?s depiction art. In these tiles; animals from different species like horse, donkey, dog, wolf, lion, peacock, eagle and several prey animals were illustrated as sometimes being alone, sometimes being in struggle with others. As well as animal figures; plantal, geometric and literary elements were also used all together on encaustic tiles. When you take the palaces which were used for holding hunting parties and entertainment organizations into consideration, it is quite clear that the motion and manner characteristics of the animal figures on their walls represent the observation skills and superior abilities of artists living in that time.As for our source of inspiration in the project; it is certainly the stylization, movement dynamics, aesthetic, abstract ideas, and the design power of the animal figures belonging to the decoration elements of Kubad Abad Palace?s encaustic tiles. They all differ from each other in terms of meaning and are believed to be talismanic according to the beliefs of Asian culture and Shamanism. With the help of this project, it is aimed to uncover the mystery in the encaustic tiles of Anatolian Seljuks and to convey information to the next generations by reaching the art-lovers. They will be introduced the styles and techniques of Anatolian Seljuks? encaustic tiles art along with its different interpretation on modern ceramic tiles art.Key Words: Ceramic, Panel, Encaustic tiles, Palace, Kubad Abad, Figure, Animal