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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2010.459
Title
Small Tea Bowl with Rounded Sides and Russet Hare's Fur Markings
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
12th-13th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China, Fujian Province, Jianyang
Period
Song dynasty, 960-1279
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/315464

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Jian ware: dark gray stoneware with dark brown glaze, the markings in iron oxide. From the Jian kilns at Jianyang, Fujian province.
Dimensions
H. 5.9 x Diam. 10.5 cm (2 5/16 x 4 1/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Edmund Lin (1928-2006; Professor, Harvard Medical School), Boston; by bequest to the Harvard Art Museum

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Edmund Chi Chien Lin
Accession Year
2010
Object Number
2010.459
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
This small tea bowl has rounded sides that rise from its small, circular footring to its circular lip, which is subtly indented just below the top. The bowl's walls are relatively thick, though they taper towards the lip; the thick walls 1) helped to keep warm the tea that originally was served in the bowl and 2) made the bowl's center of gravity relatively low which aided in keeping the bowl upright and the tea contained, should the filled bowl accidentally be bumped. The dark brown glaze, which appears black in reflected light, covers the bowl's interior and most of its exterior, stopping about one-third of the way up from the footring. The lowest portion of the bowl is unglazed, as are the footring and base. The bowl's dark gray clay body is visible in the unglazed areas; the exposed body clay assumed a dark purplish brown, or liver-colored, skin during firing. Termed "hare's fur markings", subtle russet brown streaks enliven the glaze inside and out on the upper portion of the bowl. The markings were created by dipping the lip of the bowl into iron-oxide-rich slip, once the glaze slurry had been applied and had dried or at least stabilized. The bowl was fired right side up in a saggar, standing on its footring. This is an exceptionally fine bowl of this type in terms of its shape, glaze, hare's fur markings, and condition.

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu