Hand-Shaped Door Knockers of Mugla Houses (Central Mentese District)

Abstract

In the study, which is mainly about hand shaped knockers decorating doors in a central district of Mugla,Mentese, it is tried shortly to mention the traditional houses knockers for a better understanding. Some houses have been built in an eclectic style because of the demographic structure of the province and have gained an original place in Anatolian housing architecture with their wicket doors, door knockers, wide eaves, ceiling engravings and chimneys that have become the symbol of the city identified with them. The houses, which are evaluated in two categories as Turkish and Greek houses by researchers, differ from the traditional residential architecture of Anatolia especially in terms of exterior and courtyard arrangements. These houses with their unique designs, have been inspiring even some houses having been built today, mostly were built in the 19th century and beyond. In today's world, where preferences differ, especially horizontal architecture has started to give its place to vertical architecture, and likewise the door elements that decorate the doors of traditional houses have begun to change. Door knockers, one of the communication tools of the past, were affected highly by this change and transformation. The knockers, which have begun to be forgotten since they left their places to a very different but soulless communication means, are being reduced day by day by the owners themselves, or because they are removed from their places where they belong sold to collectors or scrap dealers by thieves. In the study, which aims to draw attention priviously to the wicket doors with special designs, and hand shaped door knockers generally found in the courtyards or the street doors of houses 30 of them have been taken in the search field. These knockers have been grouped under five types by classifying according to hand shape, fabric structure on the wrist and the jewelry used. In the study, in which one sample from each group has been discussed in detail, it has been tried to give similar typology samples of door knockers from different regions of Turkey, primarily from the districts of Mugla in order to draw attention to their spreads. In the study it is dealt with hand-shaped knockers of which first samples in Anatolia don't dateback before XIX century and most of those in question were made in the form of a woman's left hand. It was understood that the knockers, of which construction material could be chosen, were mostly made of brass while some of them were made of bronze. It is thought that the works in question were imported from Europe with the westernization period, and after they became extremely popular, they were reproduced by taking molds in local workshops to meet the demand.