The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 10, 2022

Tea Bowl

1100s–1200s

China, Fujian province, Southern Song dynasty

(1127-1279)

Stoneware with black "hare’s fur" glaze and metal-bound rim, Jian ware

Diameter: 17.8 cm (7 in.); Overall: 8.7 cm (3 7/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1948.206

Location

238 Chinese Ceramics

Description

With its exceptional size, this Fujian tea bowl is rather rare. The enjoyment of Jian ware rests with the glaze transmutation due to the iron imperfections in the glaze, which developed into reddish-brown streaks and spots against a rich black glaze after firing. Connoisseurs called these iron formations “hare’s fur” marks, and the ware enjoyed much popularity with the tea cultures in China and Japan.

Provenance
?–1948
(Dikran G. Kelekian [1867–1951], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1948–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Lee, Sherman E. Tea Taste in Japanese Art. New York, NY: The Asia House Gallery, dist. by H. Abrams, 1963. Mentioned: cat. no. 9, p. 96; Reproduced: cat. no. 9, p. 23
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Jenifer Neils. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 108, no. 112
Exhibition history

The World of Ceramics - Masterpieces from The Cleveland Museum of Art. CMA 6/30ed -9/5/1982. Catalogue edited by Jenifer Neils, essay by Sherman E. Lee (CMA, 1982) no. 112

Tea Taste in Japanese Art. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (February 20-April 21, 1963).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1948.206