Page 104 - Chinese Ceramics the Linyushanren Collection Part 1 , Christie's

2820
A SUPERB JIAN ‘HARE’S FUR’ TEA BOWL
SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY (1127-1279)
The bowl is heavily potted with deep rounded sides rising to a waisted neck
and a vertical mouth, supported on a short straight foot. It is covered inside
and out with a lustrous black glaze finely streaked with iridescent ‘hare’s
fur’ markings that stops irregularly above the foot exposing the chocolate-
brown body. The mouth rim is mounted with metal.
4√ in. (12.5 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box
HK$1,000,000-1,500,000 US$130,000-190,000
南宋 建窯兔毫盞
PROVENANCE
Sen Shu Tey, Tokyo
This classic Jian ware tea bowl has finely streaked ‘hare’s fur’ markings
with an iridescent sheen. This effect depends upon various factors such
as the kiln atmosphere, and kiln temperature. Due to the uncertainty in
firing, the wastage rate at Jian kiln was relatively high. In his first trip to Sinan, Seoul, 1985, p. 106, plate. 94.
the Jian ware kiln site in Shuiji in 1935, James Marshall Plumer (1899-
1960) was overwhelmed by the immensity of the waste pile. He noted
that “there were broken bowls in vast profusion” and the pile was around
20 metres high and consisted of bowls rejected by the potters due to
minor imperfection.
These bowls were held in high esteem by Song scholar-official class and
even the emperors. Cai Xiang (1012-1067), the famous calligrapher and
high official in the Northern Song court designated the ‘hare’s fur’ tea
bowls from Jian’an the most appropriate utensil in serving tea in his two-
The Classic Age of Chinese Ceramics 古韻天成 — 臨宇山人珍藏（一）
chapter treatise on tea entitled Cha lu (A Record of Tea). He believed
the white tea looked best in black-glazed bowls and the slightly thicker
wall of Jian wares help to retain the heat of tea. By the early twelfth
century, the connoisseurship of Jian tea bowls were further developed
by the Emepror Huizong (1082-1135). In his twenty chapter treatise on
tea, Daguan chalun (A Discourse on Tea in the Daguan Era) of 1107, the
Huizong emperor commented that “the desirable colour of a tea bowl
is bluish black and the best examples display clearly streaked hairs.” The
current bowl is representative of the best tea bowls in Song dynasty,
judging by the Huizong emperor’s criteria.
Deep bowls with waist below the rim such as the current piece, is the
most iconic form of Jian ware tea bowls. The earliest dated Jian ware
example of this form was unearthed from a tomb dated to the second
year of Jingkang (1127), in Wuyuan, Jiangxi province, illustrated in
Zhongguo wenwu jinghua dacidian taoci juan (Dictionary of Gems of Chinese
Cultural Relics: Ceramics), Shanghai, 1995, p. 306, no. 460. A bowl of
similar form and size unearthed from a Southern Song tomb dated to the
first year of the Qingyuan reign (1195) is illustrated by Liu Tao, Dated
Ceramics of the Song, Liao and Jin Periods, Beijing, 2004, p. 123, fig. 9-6.
Another similar example found in the Yuan dynasty shipwreck in Sinan,
South Jeolla, Korea is illustrated in Relics Salvaged from the Seabed Off
During the Southern Song dynasty, tea drinking was customary in
Buddhist monasteries. The Southern Song dynasty painting Luohans
Drinking Tea, from the set Daitokuji denrai Gohyakurakanzu (The Daitokuji
500 Luohan Paintings) that were brought to Japan from China around
the same time, demonstrated that Jian bowls of similar form as the present
bowl were well preserved in Buddhist monasteries (fig. 1). Together
with Buddhist paintings, the tradition of tea drinking and appreciation
of tea bowls were introduced to Japan by Japanese monks who travelled
to China. In fact the Japanese term for Jian ware tea bowls, tenmoku, is
derived from the name of famous Zen Buddhism Mountain, the Tianmu
Mountain outside Hangzhou. Over the years, bowls such as the current
example were treasured and handed down by generations of Japanese
connoisseurs.
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