SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY 12th to 13th CENTURY Jizhou Ware
A Southern Song Jizhou Tortoiseshell-Glazed Pottery Teabowl, 12th-13th Century, from a Jizhou Kiln in Jiangxi Province.
SOLD
- Condition
- Perfect.
- Size
- Diameter : 11.1 cm (4 1/3 inches)
- Provenance
- Christie`s South Kensington, 27th June 1991,lot 255. The Helen Espir Collection of Oriental Ceramics.
- Stock number
- 23123
- References
- For a similar Jizhou bowl dated Southern Song-Yuan in the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York See : A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, Suzanne G. Valenstein, Weidenfield and Nicolson, London, Revised Edition 1989) Page 117. Plate 114. For another similar Jizhou Bowl See : Christie`s New York, Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 18th September 2003, Lot 253. For a further Jizhou tortoiseshell-glazed pottery teabowl of this type from the collection of John Drew see our `Sold Items` number 18567.
Information
Jizhou Tortoiseshell Glaze :
This unusual glaze was an innovation of potters from the Jizhou Kilns in Jiangxi Province. It`s name `Tortoiseshell` derives from its similarity to to the shell of the warm water Sea Turtle know as the Hawksbill. Many of the pieces produced, but by no means all, were bowls. The kilns at Jizhou appear to have specialized in small objects. The exact technique of glazing these pots is still, I believe, contested. The general principle is that they were immersed in a brown slip or perhaps transparent amber glaze splashes were applied. After drying the piece might have been given a darker glaze, then the tortoiseshell effect could be added, it is probable a paste of wood or bamboo ash was added, possibly with water creating a mottled layered effect. Like most pieces produced at the Jizhou kilns at this period the glaze can become dry and is prone to flaking away from the ceramic body. These unusual glazed wares were produced from the 12th to late 13th, or perhaps as late as the early 14th century.