A Song Dynasty (AD 960- 1279) Temmoku Tea Bowl

This is an elegant, 800 years old, beautifully well potted Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) Temmoku tea bowl( Blacked-glazed tea bowl of the Jian ware type ) with a thick glaze applied pattern of 'hare fur' all over the inside and outside, stopping short of the brown hard footring. This 'hare fur' firing is due to the 'yaobian' or kiln transmutation,where body is covered with hare like fur.

During the Song Dynasty (AD960-1279) many scholars and the court officers liked to gather and drink tea while discussing national issues or literature works. The tea was in the form of a biscuit and must be grounded into power form before pouring in the boiling water to brew. As the tea was light in colour, it suited the black bowls as the dark colour of the glaze made them especially visible for the tea testing competitions which were in fashion in the Song Dynasty. The rule of the game was to see whose tea would first stain the edge of the mouth rim at the inner side of the bowl when cooling and whoever had their cup stained the largest number of marks in the form of white lines would be the champ.

In Western writings on Chinese ceramics, black and related wares are often associated with the term 'Temmoku'. During the Song period or earlier, Japanese monks used to make pilgrimages to famous ancient temples in China to share the monastic life with the native holy communities. One of the holy abodes the Japanese frequented in Zhejiang was the Hallowed Mountain (called 'Tian Mu' in Chinese and 'Temmoku' in Japanese.

During their stay on Mount Tian Mu, the monks would have had occasion to drink tea from blackware teabowl with their Chinese hosts. These blackware teabowls could have been made in Zhejiang itself at the Wuyi Kilns, or brought in from neighbouring Fujian. The Japanese monks would have brought some of these 'Tian Mu' (Temmoku) bowls home on their return. From then on Temmoku came to be associated and was indiscriminately applied to all black and related wares.