Cuerda seca (Spanish for "dry cord") is a technique used when applying colouredglazes to ceramic surfaces.
When different coloured glazes are applied to a ceramic surface, the glazes have a tendency to run together during the firing process. In thecuerda seca technique, the water-soluble glazes are separated on the surface by thin lines of a greasy substance to prevent them running out of their delineated areas. A dark pigment such asmanganese carbonate is usually mixed with the grease to produce a dark line around each coloured area.[1]
The origin of the technique is not known for certain. Many scholars believe that thecuerda seca technique originated primarily inal-Andalus (Islamic Spain and Portugal) in the second half of the 10th century, during theUmayyad period (citingUmayyad-era examples fromSuza).[2][3][4][5] Scholar Juan Zozaya argues that the advent of this style in al-Andalus could have been spurred byChinese ceramics which were imported to the region from an early period.[6] The technique was further advanced during theTaifas period in the 11th century.[3] Preserved fragments of tiles from the late 12th-centuryminaret of theKasbah Mosque inMarrakesh, Morocco, have been cited as the earliest surviving example ofcuerda seca tilework being used for architectural decoration.[5]
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InCentral Asia,Haft-rang ("seven colors") enamelled tiles were manufactured using thecuerda seca technique from the second half of the 14th century.[8] Hans Van Lemmen postulates that these tiles, from theTimurid period (late 14th to 15th centuries), were the "earliest development ofcuerda seca".[9] The introduction of different coloured glazes is recorded in the mausoleums of theShah-i-Zindanecropolis inSamarkand. In the 1360s the colours were restricted to white, turquoise and cobalt blue but by 1386 the palette had been expanded to include yellow, light-green and unglazed red.[10] Large quantities ofcuerda seca tiles were produced during theTimurid (1370–1507) andSafavid (1501–1736) periods.[11]
In the 15th century Persian potters fromTabriz introduced the technique into Turkey and were responsible for decorating theYeşil Mosque inBursa (1419-1424).[12] Within theOttoman Empirecuerda seca tilework fell out of fashion in the 1550s and new imperial buildings were decorated withunderglaze-painted tiles fromİznik. The last building inIstanbul to includecuerda seca tilework was theKara Ahmed Pasha Mosque which was designed in 1555 but only completed in 1572.[13][14]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)In addition to these banna'i bricks, the dome is decorated with colored-glaze "cloisonné" tiles (better known as "cuerda seca"),62 as well as with cut-tile mosaics (note 62: The technique is better known as "black line", "cuerda seca" or even "haft rang" type.
