A 'Jian' 'hare's fur' 'tenmoku' bowlSouthern Song dynasty南宋 建窰黑釉兔毫盞metal-bound rim, Japanese wood box (3) Diameter 4⅞ in., 12.3 cm来源: Description A 'Jian' 'hare's fur' 'tenmoku' bowlSouthern Song dynasty南宋 建窰黑釉兔毫盞metal-bound rim, Japanese wood box (3)Diameter 4⅞ in., 12.3 cmCondition reportFor more information on and additional videos for this lot, please contactserina.wei@sothebys.com.Catalogue noteThe humble appearance of tea bowls produced at the Jian kilns in Fujian province made them appropriate for use in Buddhist temples. Dramatically contrasting with the white foam of whipped tea, these lustrous black-glazed tea bowls soon gained popularity beyond monastic circles. The Song Emperor Huizong (r. 1101-1125), well known for his love for tea, stated thatblack-glazed tea bowls, especially those decorated with 'hare's fur' like the present example, were the most desirable.These bowls were likely already brought to Japan in the Kamakura period (1185-1333), when Japanese monks discovered the art of ritual tea preparation at Buddhist temples in southern China.A similar bowl was included in the exhibitionKaramono temmoku[Chinese temmoku], MOA Art Museum, Atami, 1994, cat. no. 6. This exhibition catalogue, whereseveral important heirloomtemmokutea bowls preserved in Japan were juxtaposed with a large sample of excavated specimens from the kiln site, impressively documents the wide range of qualities and the excellence of the examples preserved in Japan. Another bowl with a similar glaze effectin the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, was included in the exhibitionHare's Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers. Chinese Brown- and Black-Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 1996, cat. no. 83.Other similar bowls include one preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no. 故-瓷-008624), and three other examples now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession nos29.100.230,29.100.227,17.179.2),