A JIAN ‘HARE’S FUR’ TEA BOWL, SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTYChina, 1127-1279. Thickly potted, of deep conical form, the gently rounded sides rising from a short foot to an indented groove beneath the rim, the interior and exterior covered with a thick black lustrous glaze, with a brown glaze at the rim extending to 'hare's-fur' striations to the sides, the glaze stopping irregularly above the foot forming three large drops and revealing the dark grayish-brown stoneware body underneath.Provenance: Momoyama Gallery, Luxembourg. A private collection in the United States, acquired from the above. A copy of the sale bill and authenticity guarantee, signed by Richard van Norten, dating from 5 May 2019, describing the piece as a Chinese nogime tenmoku chawan, dating the piece to the Song dynasty, c. 960 AD, and stating a purchase price of USD 2,500 or approx.EUR 2,900 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), apany this lot.Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, minuscule losses, and manufacturing flaws including firing cracks, firing flaws, glaze recesses, a glaze drop near the foot smoothened with minor associated losses. The wood base with minor old wear and expected age cracks.Weight: 277.7 gDimensions: Diameter 12.5 cmWith a kiri wood storage box and a good shifuku silk pouch. (4)This classic Jian ware tea bowl has finely streaked ‘hare’s fur’ markings with an iridescent sheen. This effect depends upon various factors such as the kiln atmosphere, and kiln temperature. Due to the uncertainty in firing, the wastage rate at Jian kilns was relatively high.These bowls were held in high esteem by the Song Emperors and scholar-official class. Cai Xiang (1012-1067), the famous calligrapher and high official in the Northern Song court designated the ‘hare’s fur’ tea bowls from Jian’an the most appropriate utensil for serving tea in his two-chapter treatise entitled Cha lu (A Record of Tea). He believed the white tea looked best in black-glazed bowls and the slightly thicker walls of Jian wares help to retain the heat of tea. By the early twelfth century, the connoisseur of Jian tea bowls was further developed by Emperor Huizong (1082-1135). In his treatise on tea, Daguan chalun (A Discourse on Tea in the Daguan Era), hemented that ‘the desirable color of a tea bowl is bluish black and the best examples display clearly streaked hairs.’Auction resultparison:Type: Closely relatedAuction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2016, lot 3156Price: HKD 500,000 or approx.EUR 67,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: A jian 'hare's fur' tea bowl, Southern Song dynastyExpert remark:pare the closely related form, glaze, color of the ware, and size (12.1 cm)南宋建窯兔毫盞中國，1127-1279年。侈口，深腹壁，小圈足，器內口沿下有一道淺凹槽。胎骨厚重，施罩黑釉，釉色濃稠烏黑，帶有流動性，器外壁施釉不及底，釉層上薄下厚，口沿呈現赭褐色“褐口邊”，外底邊有積釉流淌的垂釉痕跡，釉表帶黃色條縷絲紋，類似野兔毫毛。