Contemporary Turkish artisan who created classically referenced Iznik masterpieces
Adnan (Hoca or Hodja) Ergüler was a Master İznik ceramic artist, who designed and produced the highest quality quality tiles, vases and other vessels. He was born in the small town of Kütahya, which has a special place in the history of Turkish ceramics and studied at Anadolu University in Eskişehir, close to Ankara. Ergüler researched the work of old masters of Iznik and Kütahya ceramics and his adventurous nature led him to investigate the components of the basic clay, glaze and hand mix colours of Iznik tiles and pottery. Local historical artefacts and broken fragments were the primary source of research. He also analysed old form designs, pattern compositions, infrastructure and shaping techniques from the heydays of Ottoman ceramics.
Ergüler, who signed his works as 'Adnan Hoca' in Ottoman language, developed his own classical style, composition and infrastructure based on 40 years of research and experience. The raw materials and techniques used in the structure and composition of each work were the same as those used in making the finest original Iznik pottery.
Adnan Hoca's research and experiments were the basis of his classical work and he is recognised as one of the last of the Iznik masters. He experimented, played with and changed the chemistry of quartz and clay producing fine and rare masterpieces. Hoca might be the last artisan to come up with the ideas, select the clay, throw the piece, paint it, glaze the piece and fire it in the kiln. With 40 years experience, his original pieces are some of the most highly prized sold today. They are of exceptional beauty and quality and extremely limited in quantity. His pieces are in the collections of Iznik collectors and in the governmental treasures of Australia, Qatar, UK and USA.
