Early pieces were adorned with cobalt-blue and covered with a thin colorless glaze. By the sixteenth century Iznik ware could be seen in a full palette of colors. In addition to blue there was also green, black and red. There were three groups of potters who introduced new colors to the Iznik palette. The "Abraham of Kutahya" decorated with the cobalt-blue and a hint of turquoise. The "Damascus" brought in new colors of sage-green and purple which were made from manganese. The last group "Rhodain" contributed the beautiful sealing-wax red which we see till the end of Iznik ware. .
The earliest pieces of Iznik ware were mostly decorated with blue cobalt and resemble Chinese work. Chinese influences of floral scrolls and large flower sprays can be predominately seen in Iznik ware. Very common on Iznik ware is the wave border which was also heavily influenced by the Chinese. This border can be seen throughout Islamic .
pottery for roughly one hundred years and many believe that the Islamic potter was so fascinated by this Chinese wave border that it was adapted to decorate just about any item. The second kind of Iznik ware was usually embellished with an unusual range of colors. .
The "Damascus" palette though very rare and splendid did not last very long. Most of the colors were very difficult to control and soon abandoned for new ones. The third Iznik ware "Rhodian" produced some of the most beautiful sealing-wax red. Although it was a significant color change it did not replace the color palette it was just added to it. In favor of designing floral motives and using the three color palettes Islamic pottery production boomed and the results were highly decorated and colorful works of art.
One of the greatest accomplishments that came from this period in art history were the wonderful tiled Ottoman buildings and mosques. The Iznik tile work which garnished the interior and exterior of most buildings were designed with floral patterns and contained calligraphic script.