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Jian artisans experimented within this ceramic type with daz- they rst encountered them. Once in Japan, the bowls were
zling results. By manipulating body and glaze compositions, adopted by Japanese tea masters and contributed signi cantly
kiln temperatures, the cooling process, and allowing for the to the development of styles within the Japanese tea ceremony.
interventions of chance factors in the ring process, Jian Consequently, temmoku has become the universally accepted
ceramicists created wares that display the full potential of the term to describe these nacreous black wares.
iron oxide glaze. One of the best known e ects is ‘hare’s fur’
(Jpn. nogime), in which opalescent streaks run down the sides Although in China the production of black-glazed tea ware
of the bowl. Another, more rare, is the ‘oil spot’ (Jpn. yuteki) began to decline in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), with kilns
surface, in which tiny shimmering circles appear on the glaze. converting to the production of qingbai-type wares, in Japan
The latter is di cult to achieve because the craftsman must whipped tea continued to be ritually prepared and consumed
interrupt the ring between the moment when the spots form in the tea ceremony. There, temmoku tea bowls were admired
and moment they dissolve into streaks. and treasured for centuries to come. They were incorporated
into family traditions of densei, the passing down of cherished
The present ‘Jian’ tea bowl is rare in that it exhibits both types objects to the next generation within a lineage, and accrued
of variegation in the glaze. Its steeply angled sides are bathed prestige with each subsequent transmission. Within the densei
in a thick inky black glaze that pools just above the chocolate- system, Song dynasty ceramics were particularly valued. To
brown foot. On each side of the metal-bound rim, copper-toned accord with their exalted status and brilliance, temmoku tea
‘oil spots’ coalesce in a dense, continuous cluster dispersing bowls were sometimes paired with ancient mother-of-pearl
into a looser distribution at the shoulder before transforming inlaid lacquer stands, were wrapped in custom-made silk
into an upper register of ‘hare’s fur.’ Throughout, new copper pouches, and were stored in cushioned paulownia boxes. It is
freckles emerge and cascade downward, thinning, lightening, in Japan that many of the most striking examples of Jian wares
and wavering as they reach the bottom. This internal complex- are preserved. The present ‘Jian’ bowl is one such example. Its
ity refracts light in unexpected ways, allowing the surface to unblemished surface testi es to its history as a family heirloom
appear black and copper at one moment, and a combination in Japan.
of aubergine, teal, midnight blue, and gold the next, constantly
beckoning and teasing the eye. On the interior, the glaze culmi- A wide range of di erent temmoku bowls are in the Tokyo
nates to one side of the well with tiny golden specks around a National Museum, Tokyo, included in Illustrated Catalogue
larger spot, like stars orbiting a planet. The smoothness of the of Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics I, Tokyo, 1988
glaze allows it to express the full range of luminous e ects even pls. 635-640; another bowl with a highly iridescent glaze, in
to this day. the Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto, is illustrated in Sekai tōji
zenshu / Ceramic Art of the World. Sung Dynasty, vol. 12, Tokyo,
The notoriety of Jian bowls quickly spread to Japan via 1977, pl. 253; and a further bowl from the collection of Diane H.
Japanese Zen Buddhist monks who travelled to the monaster- Shafer, is published in Mowry, op. cit., pl. 82. Three exemplary
ies of the Tianmu (‘eyes of heaven’) mountain range, west ‘Jian’ tea bowls have recently sold at auction, including a silver-
of Hangzhou (Zhejiang), where the bowls were used by local streaked edition from the Pilkington collection at our Hong
monks for drinking tea. The Zen monks were so impressed by Kong rooms, 6th April 2016, lot 12; an ‘oil spot’ bowl from the
the visual, tactile, and functional qualities of the bowls that Linyushanren collection at Christie’s New York, 15th September
they brought them back to Japan in order to use them for the 2016, lot 707; and a blue-toned version at our London rooms,
same purpose and dubbed them temm ku (or tenmoku), the 9th November 2016, lot 108.
Japanese pronunciation of Tianmu, in honor of the place where
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