Glass Painting

The first examples of glass craftsmanship which is among the Turkish handicrafts were produced by the plaster-stained glass technique in the field of architecture. Afterwards, glass entered into the daily life in the form of particularly kitchenware. While the usage area of glass expanded during the era of Mamelukes and Ayyubids, techniques such as carving, printing and glazing were developed during the period of Seljuk and glass started to be used as a surface which can also be painted. In the Ottoman Empire era, increasingly growing glass production workshops led to the expansion of the usage area of glass both geographically and aesthetically. Following the commencement of its production in Turkey, glass exceeded the boundaries of İstanbul and the palace and started to be used as a painting surface in various cities of Anatolia. Due to being easily accessible and the diversity of the themes addressed, the glass-bottom traditionalized and glass transformed into an aesthetic object that could be hung on walls.

Glass bottom painting which increased its popularity during the 19^th and 20^th centuries was defeated by the increasingly growing social life and the cultural shock by the end of the 20^th century and fell into oblivion. Glass-bottom painting technique is a kind of a drawing technique which involves water based paint, powder paint, watercolour paint, gouache, glass paint or acrylic paints. The drawing technique used over surfaces such as paper, toile, woodwork and walls follows a reverse course on glass surface. As the figure drawn on glass surface is turned inside out when completed, a method which we may call as “top to bottom” is used. This process which requires the artist to do the last thing to be done at the beginning of the performance proceeds from back to front. For instance, while the details, signatures and dates are made at the last stage of the paintings made on opaque surfaces, the glass-bottom technique starts with the painting patterns, details and signature. Afterwards, surfaces between the lines forming the whole drawing and finally the background colour are painted. Depending on the surface dimension of the drawing, glass-bottom paintings may also be drawn on glasses with different thicknesses. Additionally, the glass surface acts as varnish and prevents the paint from lapsing, and provides brilliance by bringing in a transparent appearance to colours. The main characteristic of glass-bottom paintings is the existence of the volume effect due to the effective use of colours which brings in light and shadow effects to figures and shapes. As the colours are aligned and surface painting method is used, two-dimensional depictions may be produced. In addition, the similarity of this handicraft to the art of miniature may be explained with the lack of a specific concern regarding the composition and the lack of perspective. In Turkey, glass-bottom paintings developed only in the form of paintings which are hung on the walls. Paintings produced by the masters and which survived comparatively for longer periods in Anatolia have had various functions. 

Our glass-bottom painting artist is Ebu Burak (Tacettin Toparlı)'dır.