Accession Number
1964/2.76

Title
Teabowl

Artist(s)
Chinese

Artist Nationality
Chinese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
960-1279

Medium & Support
stoneware with glaze

Dimensions
2 7/8 in x 5 7/8 in (7.3 cm x 14.92 cm);4 3/4 in x 7 1/16 in (12.07 cm x 17.94 cm)

Credit Line
Museum purchase for the James Marshall Plumer Memorial Collection

Subject matter
A tortoise-shell glazed dai mao you (玳瑁釉) teabowl from the Jizhou kilns in Yonghe, Jiangxi of the Song dynasty (960-1279). This glaze effect is achieved by splasing brownish-yellow ash glaze against a black iron-rich glazed ground. Tortoise-shell glazed teabowls from the Jizhou kilns were popular in southwestern China, in what is now the Sichuan area, and overseas. Similar to Jian ware and temmoku teabowls, they were prized as they brightened the color of tea that was served in them, but the tortoiseshell bowls were also said to have magical properties.  

From the eighth century on, tea drinking was firmly established as an important Chinese social custom. The tea was taken in the form of a powder that was whisked into a frothy brew with hot water in elegant conical ceramic bowls. Initially, white wares from Yue, Xing, and Ding kilns were favored, but later black tea bowls from Jian and Jizhou became the color of choice.

Physical Description
A hemispherical stoneware bowl with a direct rim on a footring, covered in dark brown and amber, tortoise-shell glaze. 

Primary Object Classification
Ceramic

Primary Object Type
tea bowl

Additional Object Classification(s)
Ceramic

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
bowl
ceramic (material)
chawan
imitation tortoise shell
stoneware (pottery)
tea bowls
temmoku