Page 157 - Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art II

An Enmanyin-monzeki Temple sticker accompanies the original wood
box for the current bowl and lacquer stand. It is known that after
World War II the temple deaccessioned some of their possessions to the
Manno Museum of Art, and it is likely that this bowl and stand were
part of this group.
The bowl has a very attractive black glaze with a remarkable iridescent
sheen which is rarely seen. The formation of patterns on Jian ware
bowls depends on the specifc oxides of iron that form in fring and to
the type of crystals that develop as the glaze cools.
Compare the Jian ‘hare’s fur’ bowl of similar shape and with equally
attractive glaze, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu - Song, vol. 12, 1997,
Tokyo, pl. 96-98.
Jian black-glazed bowls were intended primarily for the drinking of tea.
The choice of tea during the Song and Jin periods was a pale tea that
was whisked to produce a white froth on top. Black-glazed bowls such
as the present example became increasingly popular as they showed off
the frothy white tea to great advantage.

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