Chayang ware tea bowl in style of Jian ware

Tea bowl [Chn]; roughly trimmed, flawed body, slightly concave square-sided foot. Silver rim applied over lip. Slight repair inside lip. Accompanying stand: F1911. 634.
Clay: dense, dark gray. Apparently light-colored stoneware under much darkened surface.
Glaze: brilliant bluish-black with areas of reddish and yellowish tones; iridescent. (Stand catalogued separately as F1911.634). Temmoku type, iridescent black; areas of black; areas of brown; stops short of foot, a thin buff layer runs down below thick dark layer, giving effect of double application.

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Historical period(s)
Southern Song or Yuan dynasty, 13th-14th century
Medium
Stoneware with ash and iron glazes
Style
Chayang ware
Dimensions
H x W: 6.7 x 12.9 cm (2 5/8 x 5 1/16 in)
Geography
China, Fujian province, Nanping, Chayang kiln
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1911.355
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Tea bowl (haikatsugi tenmoku)

Keywords
Chayang ware, China, iridescence, Jian ware, Southern Song dynasty (1127 - 1279), stoneware, tea, Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368)
Provenance

To 1911
Shinsuke Hayashi, Tokyo, to 1911 [1]

From 1911 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Shinsuke Hayashi in 1911 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Pottery List, L. 2141, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Shinsuke Hayashi (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Tea bowl [Chn]; roughly trimmed, flawed body, slightly concave square-sided foot. Silver rim applied over lip. Slight repair inside lip. Accompanying stand: F1911. 634.
Clay: dense, dark gray. Apparently light-colored stoneware under much darkened surface.
Glaze: brilliant bluish-black with areas of reddish and yellowish tones; iridescent. (Stand catalogued separately as F1911.634). Temmoku type, iridescent black; areas of black; areas of brown; stops short of foot, a thin buff layer runs down below thick dark layer, giving effect of double application.

Label

Many bowls of this type, which resemble the classic Jian ware black-glazed tea bowl but differ in form, trimming of the foot, and glazing, were used in Japan, where they were known as haikatsugi (ash-covered) bowls, from the grayish appearance of their glaze. Japanese connoisseurs ranked them lower than Jian ware, but they became important in the style of tea drinking known as wabicha that developed in the sixteenth century. Recently one kiln that made bowls of this type has been identified in Nanping City, Fujian Province; it is known as the Chayang kiln. This kiln also produced white porcelain that is excavated in Okinawa and in Hakata. No doubt other kilns made this type of Jian-style tea bowl, but for the moment the Chayang kiln is representative.

Published References
  • Sherman Lee. The Freer's Studies in Connoisseurship (Review): Museum News. vol. 44, no. 1 New York, Spring 1984. pp. 66-67, fig. 2.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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