Porcelain from Gonio fort

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Porcelain from gonio fort

Gonio Fort is situated in south-western part of the city of Batumi, in the northern entrance of the suburb of Gonio, on the left side of the river Chorokhi (pl.I/1-2).

In the second half of the 16^th century Gonio Fort was conquered by the Ottomans. In 1590-1595, they made the walls on the fort taller and turned it into a base of further attacks. An Italian missioner of the first half of the 17^th century De Casteli left us a picture of the Gonio Fort. The inscription made by Casteli shows that an Ottoman garrison and military administration were stationed at Gonio¹. At around 1700 Ottomans took Batumi, and later - Kobuleti. Following this, the role of Gonio as the advanced post broke down and decline. In the 18^th century interesting information about Gonio is provided by Georgian historian Vakhushti Bagrationi. Vakhushti refers to Gonio as a ,,Minor city” and Fort². Gonio is cited by the Ottoman traveler Evliya Јelebi, who says that the sea reaches the Fort immediately. Gonio was part of Batumi sanjak of Trabzon vilayet. 800 warriors would gather there during the war. Gonio was a border point at the time where 500 warriors were positioned in peacetime³.

In 1878, Gonio, together with whole Ajara, was liberated from the Ottoman rule. The archive material preserved at Saint Peterburg confirms that Gonio had appeared in the interest sphere of the discoverer of Troy, investigator of Mycenae and Orchomenos, Heinrich Schlimann. He was going to undertake field archaeological study at this expense. However, due to some previous disorders, Shlimann was denied the approval from the Emperor's court. At the beginning of the 20^th century (in 1904 and 1917) a permission was issued to famous scientists Nicholas Marr and Theodor Uspenski to conduct archaeological works on the territory of Gonio, but for some reasons, neither these works were implemented. Only after opening the Niko Berdzenishvili Batumi Scientific-Research Institute of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, in the 1960s, could small-scale field and prospecting works be carried out.⁴

A new stage in the study of Gonio started in 1994, when the Gonio- Apsarus Museum and Sanctuary was created. Large-Scale planned investigation is carried out at the site every year by the Gonio-Apsarus permanent archaeological expedition.

The archaeological excavations have revealed quite strong cultural layers of the Roman (1^th -3^th centuries), Byzantine (6^th-7^th centuries) and Ottoman (16^th- 19^en centuries) periods in the inside area of the fort. There are the remains of the constructions of various purposes.

Plate. 1

Plate. 2

Archaeological excavations document that the population led a rather intensive lifestyle by the late middle ages. Gonio fort is under the Ottoman rule from the mid-16^th century AD. Nearly all the sections of the fort document cultural layers of this epoch and their contemporary archaeological material. Plenty of different size and shape complete ceramic household items and crockery, fragments of glazed pottery, faience, porcelain, smoking pipes, horseshoes, etc. Most of them seem to be imported from different production centers in Turkey⁵.

Plate. 3

One of the late medieval archaeological materials found on the territory of the Gonio fort are porcelain. All of them are coffee cups. They are characterized by firm, high quality white earthen; round, ring-like developed heel and semi-spherical or bell-shape slope. According to dйcor, painting technique and artistic decoration the cups can be divided into several type.

Type 1: unifies cups painted with cobalt blue paints under the transparent glaze against white background. This is a leading group of the finds (G.A.89/256; G.A.95/298, 1998, 2371; G.A.96/27, 604, 775, 894, 2851, 3120; G.A.98/970; G.A.2002/2379, 2284; G.A.2011/217; G.A.2014 /10). The main type of artistic decoration is a many-lapelled flower or a many-lapelled flower surrounded with small plant ornaments and/or round geometrical ornaments (pl.II/1-10). An exception is a sample with a bird decoration (G.A.98/63) (pl.II/8). Two version are singled out according to earthen: a) thin-walled and b) thick-walled cups. Thin-walled cups are the majority

Type 2: is formed by the cups with plain inside and small plant ornaments painted outside in blue cobalt paint against white background (G.A.98/913; G.A.05/22; G.A.09.2289) (pl.II/12-14).

Type 3: unifies samples decorated with polychrome dйcor expressed with blue, light blue, coral and light green paints (G.A.89/254; G.A.95/2856; G.A.96/1406; G.A.98/5218₁) (pl.III/1-4).

Type 4: comprises cups painted in brown paint (G.A.95/84;174; G.A.96/290;2813; G.A.98/55; G.A.2000/1109; G.A.2006/288) (pl.III/6-12).

As it is well-known, China is the homeland of porcelain. However, the exact time of its origin is unknown. Supposedly, porcelain decorated with cobalt blue paints under the transparent glaze against white background first appears in the 14^th century during the Yuan dynasty (1280- 1368)⁶. The year 1351 is considered as the earliest date⁷.

The Golden Age of the development of such type of porcelain belongs to the Ming dynasty reign period (1368-1644). However, at the end of their reign, production and quality of porcelain decreased due to hard conditions in the country. During the following Qing dynasty (1644-1911), after the settlement of political and economic situation in the country, the production of porcelain was resumed.

In 17^th-18^th centuries Chinese porcelain gradually reached the quality of the Ming dynasty porcelain and even more - the peak of its development. A new stage of porcelain production begins from the reign of the Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722)⁸.

From the 17^th century activation of trade relations between southeastern Asia and Europe as well as high demand on porcelain product promoted production improvement, perfection and development of forms. Porcelain masters did not neglect Muslim countries. Quite often this new type of “blue-white” porcelain was prepared in specifically Islamic style to be exported in Near East⁹. Chinese porcelain of that period is discovered in Samara (Iraq), Nishapur (Persia), Hama (Syria), Iznik, Bitlis fort (Turkey), Afrasiab (Uzbekistan), Nisa (Turkmenistan), Otrar (Kazakhstan), etc¹⁰.

Spreading of this porcelain begins in Persia as early as from the end of the 14^th century and beginning of the 15^th century and passes onto the territory of Turkey, though in small numbers, from the 16^th century, especially after Selim I defeated Iran in 1514 and successfully terminated the Eastern invasions in 1516-1517¹¹. From the 17^th century the porcelain product becomes widely spread. Knowing about the Ottoman addiction to coffee, small-size coffee cups and saucers were specially made for them¹².

According to the latest archaeological excavations it becomes clear that the “blue-white” porcelain is mostly met in the areas that used to be under the Ottoman rule. The porcelain ware of the similar dйcor is found in the following Hungarian fortresses and cities: Eger, Kanizsa, Szolnok, Buda, Gyula, etc. in the cultural layers dated to the end of the 16^th and the 17^th centuries, as well as in Sharm-El-Sheikh along the Red Sea coast, together with Ottoman pipes and red-earthenware ceramics of the 18^th century, in Azov, in the cultural layer of the end on the 17^th and the beginning of the 18^th centuries in Balaklava together with the Ottoman artifacts of the 17^th century¹³.

At the end of the 17^th and beginning of the 18^th centuries, apart from the cobalt blue paint the application of different colors of paints started for decoration of porcelain items. The product decorated with polychrome decor also starts to emerge. Similar type of porcelain fragments have been found of the Gonio-Apsarus territory as well. This type of products is unified into the 3 Type (pl.III/1-4).

Among porcelain cups one group is singled out in which the leading place in decorations is taken by brown paint (pl.III/6-12). Such type of cups is included into the 4 type and can be divided into two version according to decoration: a) cups with various kinds of plant ornaments painted in blue cobalt paint under the polished transparent glaze inside against the white background whereas covered in brown paint from outside. Two shades of brown coloring are used in the cups of this type: dark and relatively light brown ones (pl.III/6-12); b) cups painted in brown from both sides of the surface (G.A.99/5284) (pl.m/5).

Decoration of porcelain items in similar decor became popular from the end of the 17^th century during the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722) and won popularity in England, Germany, Holland and America, though the popularity did not last long. In the late years of his reign - the first quarter of the 18^th century - banned the brown-painted porcelain and it completely disappeared from the market¹⁴.

This type of coffee cups and bowls/saucers were very popular in the Ottoman Empire too. The Ottomans widely used products decorated with similar decor. Similar samples are found in great numbers in the 17^th century cultural layers in Istanbul and saraзhane as well as in the cultural layers of Hungarian fortresses and castles dated to the end of the 17^th and beginning of the 18^th centuries in Ondod, Szendro, etc. as well as in the northern Black Sea littoral, in the layers of Azov and Balaklava fortresses of the same period.

It should be noted that in 1720-1775 porcelain cups of the same dйcor were produced in Meissen, Germany too. From the end of the 18^th century all through the 19^th century European producers of porcelain actively sold China style porcelain production including coffee cups at Ottoman markets. At this period the Ottoman Empire had good relations with Germany. Great part of their production in the 18^th century came on the cups prepared in the city of Meissen in Germany. Brown-painted porcelain cups are discovered in the city of Jaffa, in the materials of the Ottoman period, dated to the 18^th century and identified as the produce of the Meissen center of production¹⁵.

According to the decoration technique and decor the Type 4 comprises several fragments of coffee cups as well. Their inner side is decorated with cobalt blue paint performed in traditional Chinese motifs whereas the outer side is covered in dark brown paint (pl.III/13-14). According to the earthenware, the cups are quite different. Their earthenware is of low quality, rather harsh and represents the medium ring between porcelain and faience. It is obvious that the cups are made in other Chinese center that was apparently not distinguished by good-quality production.

In our opinion, porcelain found on the Gonio-Apsarus territory was imported by the Ottoman soldiers and served to the satisfaction of their needs. It is also confirmed by the fact that the porcelain ware is not numerous and the majority belongs to the cup type. Similar picture is depicted in accordance of the outcomes of the archaeological excavations conducted in different countries worldwide.

gonio porcelain cup decor

Literature

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3 Qelebi E. Book of Travel. T., 1971. P. 82.

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13 Гусач И.Р. Указ. соч. C. 398; Szalai E. Oriental import gods Ottoman-period Gyula//Fiatal Kozйpkoros Rйgйszek IV. konferenciвjвnak Tanulmвnykotete. K., 2013. P. 159-172; Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski R, Savelв O. Excavation in Balaklava (Sevastopol, Ukraine), season 2011, Discovery of Fortifications of Roman Fort // Swiatowit, Vol. IX(L), Mediterranean and Non-European Archaeology. W., 2012. P. 173-182.

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15 Vincenz A., Porcelain and Ceramic Vessels of the Ottoman Period from the Ancient Police Station in Jaffa, Israel.

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