Page 268 - CHRISTIE'S Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art 09/14 - 15 / 17
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Inspiring Contemplation – A rare Jian ware tea bowl
Rosemary Scott, Senior International Academic Consultant Asian Art
This beautiful tea bowl belongs to a rare group of black-glazed bowls made precipitation which creates the stunning visual efects in the glazes. The Jian
at the Jian kilns of Fujian province. These kilns became famous in the Song glazes are also liquid-liquid phase separated glazes and the formation of little
dynasty for their tea bowls made using the local high-iron clay and decorated glass droplets in the glaze during phase separation helps to carry the excess
with dark glazes in which the iron content was deliberately manipulated to iron to the surface. At the early stage of this process the droplets appear as
create diferent states of iron oxide in a range of colours and decorative efects. tiny fecks giving the speckled appearance of a ‘tea dust’ glaze. As the droplets
The current bowl is one of only a small group of vessels from these kilns which move to the surface and burst they produce the efect known as ‘oil-spot’ and
bear the rare speckled glaze known as ‘oil spot’ in English, yuteki (油 滴), then, if the glaze is allowed to run, it carries the burst droplets with it and the
literally ‘oil drop’ in Japanese, pronounced youdi in Chinese. It is characterised efect of streaking that is known as ‘hare’s fur’ is produced. The streaking
by the myriad of tiny iridescent spots which cover the surface of the black is enhanced by the growth of micro crystals in the excess iron oxide during
glaze. The appearance of tea in such a bowl was described by Cai Jing (蔡 cooling, and the varied colours of the diferent states of iron oxide create the
京 1047-1126) as resembling ‘scattered stars and a tranquil moon’ (疏星澹月), decorative efects. The diferent colours of iron oxide are most obvious in the
where the ‘scattered stars’ would be the iridescent spots on the dark glaze, and delicate streaks running down the sides of the tea bowls of the type usually
the ‘tranquil moon’ would be the pale circle created by the froth on the surface known as ‘hare’s fur’ in English, tu hao wen (兔毫紋) in Chinese, and nogime
of the tea. temmoku (禾目天目) in Japanese.
Although black glazes had long been popular in China, prior to the Tang The so-called ‘oil spot’ glaze, seen on the current bowl, is much rarer than the
dynasty none displayed the desirable intensity of colour or the glossiness of streaked glaze. In part, this is probably because the timing of the fring was
the later wares. This was due to the fact that the early glazes were high-lime, even more critical in order to catch the glaze at the point when the optimum
and such glazes could not support more than 3-4% of iron oxide, while 6% was spotting was achieved, but before the glaze ran and created streaking. There
required for a good black glaze. In the Tang dynasty, however, a base glaze are two more spotted Jian glazes - one is known as Yohen (曜変), literally
that was lower in lime, and nearer to a balanced lime-alkali glaze was produced ‘brilliant [kiln] transmutation’ in Japanese, and in Chinese yaobian (曜變). In
in central China using clays, which were iron-rich but contained a wide range this glaze efect the spots themselves are dark but have iridescent halos. The
of high-temperature fuxes. This allowed the production of deep, glossy black other spotted Jian ware glaze has dense white spots on the dark glaze, which
glazes, which provided the foundation for development of the exceptional were described by one Northern Song poet as looking like melting snow on
black glazes in both north and south China during the Song dynasty. The dark water. There is debate amongst scholars as to whether this latter glaze or
black-glazed stonewares made at the Jian kilns in northern Fujian province the ‘oil spot’ glaze is the one referred to in various historical texts as zhegu
difer from those made at the kilns in north China, and indeed those made at (鷓 鴣) ‘partridge [feather]’. The ‘oil spot’ glaze is more delicate and iridescent,
the Jizhou kilns of Jiangxi province, in the colour and texture of their clay body. and perhaps better evokes the appearance of feathers, however, as there are
Signifcantly, the Jian ware body had a high iron content, which obviated the at least seven diferent types of partridge in China with diferent markings, it is
necessity to use an iron-rich slip on the body under the glaze, as was applied to dificult to be sure which the authors of historical texts had in mind, or indeed
the pale-bodied wares at the Henan kilns of the north. whether they are consistent.
It is the remarkable glazes on Jian ware tea bowls that has attracted the An aspect of Jian ware ‘oil spot’ glazes, which had not been appreciated by art
devotion of connoisseurs throughout the centuries. These glazes are largely historians until relatively recently, was the fact that, when fred, they contained
similar to those of the northern black wares, but with a little more alumina a rare variant of iron oxide, which modern scientists struggle to produce
added to cope with the higher fring temperatures of between 1250-1350oC. in laboratory conditions. An international team comprised of scientists
The glaze is overloaded with iron - c. 6%, while the maximum that a lime- from France (Catherine Dejoie, Philippe Sciau and Laure Noé), the People’s
based glaze can dissolve is c. 5.5% - and the excess precipitates out. It is this Republic of China (Li Weidong, Chen Kai, Luo Hongjie and Liu Zhi), and the
