Azərbaycan Respublikası Təhsil Nazirliyi West Caspian University

Art ceramics in Azerbaijan

Artistic ceramics in Azerbaijan - Artistic ceramics was one of the oldest fields of Azerbaijani art and has remained important to this day. Experts attribute the emergence of this field of art to the Neolithic period. Initially, pottery, which was mainly practiced by women, became an independent field of art as a result of a number of technical advances and artistic evolution in the Eneolithic period. The formation of aesthetic ideas in the local population has led to a gradual increase in the decorative properties of ceramics. Simple geometric and floral motifs were initially protective and enchanting, and gradually became decorative systems as their decorative features were discovered.

The emergence of zoomorphic ceramic vessels in the primitive period is associated with the emergence of totemistic and animistic concepts in ancient humans. The ritual purpose of these products is explained by the fact that these vessels are found only in the grave inventory.

A separate direction of the Bronze and Iron Age ceramics is the culture of painted pottery. The culture of colored ceramics, which covers the Bronze and Iron Ages, demonstrates to us the new possibilities and pursuits of more artistically expressive decor. Polychrome pottery found in the necropolis of Nakhchivan called Kultepe reflects a new stage of development of this art. The principles of decor and many motifs in the artistic ceramics of this period prove the existence of artistic and technological ties and contacts with the civilizations of Central Asia and the Middle East. The influence of Greco-Roman art on the ceramics of the ancient Albanian (Caucasian) state, which existed in the territory of Azerbaijan, is already being traced. The constructive and plastic properties of Yaloylu Tepe (Gabala) ceramics are a clear example of these cultural contacts.

Archaeological excavations have shown that pottery was one of the most widespread arts in Azerbaijan in the early Middle Ages. Azerbaijan's Gabala, Beylagan, Baku, Mingachevir, Nakhchivan and others. The pottery found in the area demonstrates the increase of decorativeness in ceramic products, giving us detailed information about the artistic and technological features of this type. Underwater and underwater ceramic painting, stamping, etc. The means of artistic expression of technological methods are accompanied by the introduction of new materials. The use of lustreware juices has been one of the factors that enhances such decoration. Evidence shows that in those centuries, pottery, which was widely used among the population in Azerbaijan, was made mainly by rotating pottery. Pitchers, plates, jugs, cups, lamps, bowls, etc. from the potter's work. The pottery was already distinguished by its smoothness, precision of shape and good cooking.

Scholars divide ancient Azerbaijani pottery into two main parts. The first is red clay ceramics, the second is polished black ceramics. Nuru Pasha, a researcher in the art of pottery in Turkey, first revealed the secret of the red and black color of ancient pottery. It is now known that when clay pots are baked in a sphere, the iron salts in the clay are converted into iron oxide by heat. Iron oxides give red, pink, brown and yellowish colors to baked goods. Ancient potters freed clay pots from these colors and found a technological way to give them black and gray colors. When they discovered this method, they based it on the physical law, the law of expansion of matter from heat and compression of cold.

The area of ​​distribution of polished black ceramics was wider. The development of this type of pottery began in the Eneolithic period and reached its peak in the Bronze Age. Khanlar, Mingachevir, Dashkasan, Gazakh and others used such ceramics. are often found in the territory of the regions.