Teabowl
Chinese
Description
Subject Matter:
A tortoise-shell glazed dai mao you (玳瑁釉) teabowl from the Jizhou kilns in Yonghe, Jiangxi of the Song dynasty (960-1279). This glaze effect is achieved by splasing brownish-yellow ash glaze against a black iron-rich glazed ground. Tortoise-shell glazed teabowls from the Jizhou kilns were popular in southwestern China, in what is now the Sichuan area, and overseas. Similar to Jian ware and temmoku teabowls, they were prized as they brightened the color of tea that was served in them, but the tortoiseshell bowls were also said to have magical properties.
From the eighth century on, tea drinking was firmly established as an important Chinese social custom. The tea was taken in the form of a powder that was whisked into a frothy brew with hot water in elegant conical ceramic bowls. Initially, white wares from Yue, Xing, and Ding kilns were favored, but later black tea bowls from Jian and Jizhou became the color of choice.
Physical Description:
A hemispherical stoneware bowl with a direct rim on a footring, covered in dark brown and amber, tortoise-shell glaze.
Usage Rights:
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