An exceptional heirloom 'Jian' 'yuteki temmoku' tea bowl, Southern Song dynasty | 南宋 建窰油滴天目茶盞

Bowls with this exquisite dappled black glaze with striking iridescent 'hare's fur' and 'oil spot' markings are among the most celebrated products of the Song dynasty (960-1279) kilns at Jian, in northern Fujian province. The desirability of these bowls coevolved with the tea-drinking tradition of the period.

At that time, Chan Buddhist priests prepared, imbibed, and served tea for its beneficial effects on the body and mind. The elaborate preparatory process­ – which involved scraping tea from a pressed cake, drying it, grinding it, putting it through a sieve, selecting the finest resulting powder, mixing it into a paste with warm water, and gradually adding additional water while simultaneously whisking it into a frothy beverage – played a central role in religious ceremonies. It also became fashionable in elite social circles. Sacred and secular enthusiasts alike sought to master the art of tea-making, with praise awarded to the person who achieved the richest froth.

The intrinsic qualities of Jian bowls made them particularly suited for tea preparation and enjoyment. In size and form, they were comfortable to hold. Their heavy potting had an insulating effect, keeping the tea inside hot while protecting the fingers from the heat. Their speckled black glazes, subtly imbued with the spectral colouration of refracted light, heightened the aesthetic experience of a well-formed white froth. Additionally, Jian bowls were made in the same province as the empire's prized teas, providing another link between the vessel and its contents.

Jian artisans experimented within this ceramic type with dazzling results. By manipulating body and glaze compositions, kiln temperatures, the cooling process, and allowing for the interventions of chance factors in the firing process, Jian ceramicists created wares that display the full potential of the iron oxide glaze. One of the most desirable and extremely rare effects is 'oil spot', in which tiny shimmering circles appear on the glaze. It is difficult to achieve because the craftsman must interrupt the firing between the moment when the spots form and the moment when they dissolve into streaks. Most 'oil spot' examples today are found in Japan, where they have long been prized and known as yuteki temmoku (oil-spot temmoku). 

This type of glaze was so popular that it was copied by several northern kilns, which applied a dark brown slip to the unglazed part at the base to hide their light grey or brown stoneware body. These 'oil-spots' were formed when oxides of iron segregated themselves from the iron-saturated glaze during firing and crystallised on the surface during cooling (Rober D. Mowry, Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers. Chinese Brown- and Black-Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400, Cambridge, 1995, p. 222).

A similar Jian bowl with a metal rim mount, from the collection of the Tokyo Bunkacho, the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Tokyo, registered by the Japanese Government as an Important Cultural Property, was included in the Special Exhibition. Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1994, cat. no. 198, and again in Song Ceramics, Tobu Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1999, cat. no. 76, together with a related oil-spot bowl with larger spots from the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, which is designated as a National Treasure, cat. no. 74.

閩北有窰，宋燒黑瓷，釉面盈潤光潔，纖俊秀逸，迎光而視，宛若五色天虹，頓挫明滅，以兔毫、油滴，聞名於世，人盡惜之。

建盞之盛，應源於宋代品茗傳統。宋時禪僧尤奉茶事，飲茶以靜神養身。時人飲茶，先刮茶餅取粉，微烘細磨後篩煉提精，繼著少水調攪，再注水並以筅擊拂至起湯花，以花多且久不散者為上。

建窰黑盞，其質謙素內斂，胎體厚重，舉而不燙，茶溫久恆，釉色沉黑，注茶擊拂，起白花，便於觀色，故為鬥茶絕品。

建窰之盞，其釉萬殊，此器釉面作圓點緻密，謂之油滴，燒造時需避其流淌，故成品尚難，尤為珍罕。日人對此趨之若鶩，雅稱其曰「油滴天目」。

油滴之器，風行一時，北方窰口更以深褐色化妝土掩胎以仿之。油滴之釉，仗賴高鐵釉藥中的氧化鐵在高溫下分離、繼而在冷卻過程中結晶，終成虹光點滴，隨光舞動；詳見毛瑞，《Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers. Chinese Brown- and Black-Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400》，劍橋，1995年，頁222。

相類建窰油滴盞，可參見日本東京文化廳藏「重要文化財」例，收入《特別展：中国の陶磁》，東京國立博物館，東京，1994年，編號198，又見於《宋磁》，東武美術館，東京，1999年，編號76，同展並見大阪市立東洋陶磁美術館藏「國寶」例，油滴較大，編號74。