My contribution to a very, very old discussion.
Amongst the more unusual kilns from the illustrious history of Chinese ceramics is the Jian kiln from Fujian province. The Jian kilns operated during the Song and Yuan dynasties (roughly from the mid tenth to the mid fourteenth centuries) and made black teabowls and very little else. What their production lacked in variety it made up for in virtuoso technique in the making of black glaze and the various effects that could be obtained from it. Scholars and modern day potters are still arguing about how some of the effects were created, and some variations (notably some rare bowls with iridescent oil spots) have still not been copied satisfactorily. Despite their humble origins the bowls were admired by Chinese emperors and humble Buddhist monks alike, and were influential in the development of tea culture in China and Japan.
The photos in this post are of three bowls in a group of 15 that I bought from the same source in 1996 or 97. They were all excavated from the Jian kiln site at the same time and were probably part of the regular production of one of the kilns, perhaps during the 10th or 11th century. All of the bowls are around 9.5cm wide: this size was quite common in Jian production, but is less favored by collectors today. As a result I was able to buy a large group, and they have been a useful reference for Jian designs and effects ever since.
Looking at this set of bowls again today the thing that strikes me is the range of surface decoration. No two bowls are alike. This begs the question of to what extent Song dynasty potters were able to control the effects they produced. Some control was certainly exercised: in many bowls it is possible to see how carefully the glaze and surface decoration were applied, but the kilns in use in those days lacked the precise controls of temperature and air flow that modern potters take for granted. My impression from looking at this group is that the pattern on the finished bowl was still to some extent in the hands of the kiln god, despite the evident skill of the potters.
The coloring on Jian ware bowls is iron. This is one of the commonest coloring materials on pottery and porcelain, and probably the first one that was ever used on a pot. In small amounts it makes pale blue and green glazes, in larger amounts it makes dark green and brown colors, and in large amounts it makes colors that are close to black.
With a black glaze that is saturated with iron further effects can be produced by adding still more iron, that is allowed to sit on the surface of the glaze in solid form. Jian ware potters coated their bowls in glaze (leaving the foot-rim bare) and then added more iron at the rim of the bowl. During firing the iron at the rim ran down towards the center of the bowl. This produced various patterns, the most common of which was fine lines like fur, extending from the rim to the center of the bowl. This pattern was called "hare's fur" by Song dynasty tea aficionados. Though we can't check with Song dynasty authors as to which pattern they meant by "hare's fur" there is little doubt about which design they were talking about. The first bowl of the three photographs in this post is evidently of this type.
The second well-known design is called "Oil Spot", though this term is probably of more recent origin and is not found in Song dynasty descriptions. This type of glaze has round spots distributed over it. These seem to have crystallized on the surface from excess iron in the glaze, probably during cooling.
A complicating factor is that Jian ware was fired with varying amounts of oxygen in the kiln. A slight excess of oxygen gave brownish-black bowls with chocolate colored surface decoration (fired in an "oxidizing" atmosphere). Bowls fired with less oxygen gave blue-black glazes with metallic-looking surface effects (fired in a "reducing" atmosphere). The best Oil Spot effects seem to be on bowls that were fired in a reducing atmosphere, producing silvery spots against a jet-black background. The second bowl in the set of three photographs is of this type.
Song dynasty black glazed ware has been written about in numerous books and articles, but the two most important in the English-language in recent years are probably an article by Marshall PS Wu in Orientations Magazine ("Black Glazed Jian Ware and Tea Drinking in the Song Dynasty", Orientations April 1998), and the catalogue of a major exhibition by the Harvard University Art Museum entitled "Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers" (Robert Mowry et al, 1995). The Harvard catalogue is an outstanding reference, perhaps the definitive guide to Chinese black glazed wares.
Despite a wealth of scholarship some mysteries remain. One such is the decorative effect termed "Partridge Feathers", referred to by Song connoisseurs. This seems to have been at least as revered in Song times as the Hare's Fur effect, but what exactly was being referred to? There is some discussion of this issue in both the Wu and Mowry articles. Wu concludes that what the Song dynasty authors actually meant was oil spot glazes (as they later become known). Mowry et al disagree and conclude that "Partridge Feathers" referred to a type of glaze with large brown splodges on a black background. They go on to identify and label several bowls with this pattern, most of which are Cizhou wares from northern China.
The problem with Wu's solution to the Partridge-Feather mystery is that oil spots are unconvincing in this role. True, some partridges have spots on their wings, but so do many animals, and there is nothing feathery about the silvery metallic spots on bowls of this type. Mowry et al's solution is somewhat more attractive; the brown spots they identify are somewhat more feather-like. The problem with their identification is that Song authors were talking about Jian ware bowls, but none of the bowls that Mowry et al label as "Partridge Feather" were from the Jian kilns, and in fact most of the examples they show were probably from a different (later) era. More recently, a third type of bowl with prominent white spots has been proposed for the title of "Partridge Feather". This type is exceedingly rare and I have yet to see one myself.
Amongst the more unusual kilns from the illustrious history of Chinese ceramics is the Jian kiln from Fujian province. The Jian kilns operated during the Song and Yuan dynasties (roughly from the mid tenth to the mid fourteenth centuries) and made black teabowls and very little else. What their production lacked in variety it made up for in virtuoso technique in the making of black glaze and the various effects that could be obtained from it. Scholars and modern day potters are still arguing about how some of the effects were created, and some variations (notably some rare bowls with iridescent oil spots) have still not been copied satisfactorily. Despite their humble origins the bowls were admired by Chinese emperors and humble Buddhist monks alike, and were influential in the development of tea culture in China and Japan.
The photos in this post are of three bowls in a group of 15 that I bought from the same source in 1996 or 97. They were all excavated from the Jian kiln site at the same time and were probably part of the regular production of one of the kilns, perhaps during the 10th or 11th century. All of the bowls are around 9.5cm wide: this size was quite common in Jian production, but is less favored by collectors today. As a result I was able to buy a large group, and they have been a useful reference for Jian designs and effects ever since.
Looking at this set of bowls again today the thing that strikes me is the range of surface decoration. No two bowls are alike. This begs the question of to what extent Song dynasty potters were able to control the effects they produced. Some control was certainly exercised: in many bowls it is possible to see how carefully the glaze and surface decoration were applied, but the kilns in use in those days lacked the precise controls of temperature and air flow that modern potters take for granted. My impression from looking at this group is that the pattern on the finished bowl was still to some extent in the hands of the kiln god, despite the evident skill of the potters.
The coloring on Jian ware bowls is iron. This is one of the commonest coloring materials on pottery and porcelain, and probably the first one that was ever used on a pot. In small amounts it makes pale blue and green glazes, in larger amounts it makes dark green and brown colors, and in large amounts it makes colors that are close to black.
With a black glaze that is saturated with iron further effects can be produced by adding still more iron, that is allowed to sit on the surface of the glaze in solid form. Jian ware potters coated their bowls in glaze (leaving the foot-rim bare) and then added more iron at the rim of the bowl. During firing the iron at the rim ran down towards the center of the bowl. This produced various patterns, the most common of which was fine lines like fur, extending from the rim to the center of the bowl. This pattern was called "hare's fur" by Song dynasty tea aficionados. Though we can't check with Song dynasty authors as to which pattern they meant by "hare's fur" there is little doubt about which design they were talking about. The first bowl of the three photographs in this post is evidently of this type.
The second well-known design is called "Oil Spot", though this term is probably of more recent origin and is not found in Song dynasty descriptions. This type of glaze has round spots distributed over it. These seem to have crystallized on the surface from excess iron in the glaze, probably during cooling.A complicating factor is that Jian ware was fired with varying amounts of oxygen in the kiln. A slight excess of oxygen gave brownish-black bowls with chocolate colored surface decoration (fired in an "oxidizing" atmosphere). Bowls fired with less oxygen gave blue-black glazes with metallic-looking surface effects (fired in a "reducing" atmosphere). The best Oil Spot effects seem to be on bowls that were fired in a reducing atmosphere, producing silvery spots against a jet-black background. The second bowl in the set of three photographs is of this type.
Song dynasty black glazed ware has been written about in numerous books and articles, but the two most important in the English-language in recent years are probably an article by Marshall PS Wu in Orientations Magazine ("Black Glazed Jian Ware and Tea Drinking in the Song Dynasty", Orientations April 1998), and the catalogue of a major exhibition by the Harvard University Art Museum entitled "Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers" (Robert Mowry et al, 1995). The Harvard catalogue is an outstanding reference, perhaps the definitive guide to Chinese black glazed wares.
Despite a wealth of scholarship some mysteries remain. One such is the decorative effect termed "Partridge Feathers", referred to by Song connoisseurs. This seems to have been at least as revered in Song times as the Hare's Fur effect, but what exactly was being referred to? There is some discussion of this issue in both the Wu and Mowry articles. Wu concludes that what the Song dynasty authors actually meant was oil spot glazes (as they later become known). Mowry et al disagree and conclude that "Partridge Feathers" referred to a type of glaze with large brown splodges on a black background. They go on to identify and label several bowls with this pattern, most of which are Cizhou wares from northern China.
The problem with Wu's solution to the Partridge-Feather mystery is that oil spots are unconvincing in this role. True, some partridges have spots on their wings, but so do many animals, and there is nothing feathery about the silvery metallic spots on bowls of this type. Mowry et al's solution is somewhat more attractive; the brown spots they identify are somewhat more feather-like. The problem with their identification is that Song authors were talking about Jian ware bowls, but none of the bowls that Mowry et al label as "Partridge Feather" were from the Jian kilns, and in fact most of the examples they show were probably from a different (later) era. More recently, a third type of bowl with prominent white spots has been proposed for the title of "Partridge Feather". This type is exceedingly rare and I have yet to see one myself.
Which brings me to the third bowl from my group of 15. This is a Jian ware bowl, with markings that are neither Oil Spot nor Hare's Fur, though they are clearly related to the latter type. Instead of the streaks of "fur" we have a feathery effect from iron-rich material running down the inside of the bowl. The effect seems to be related to a difference in surface tension of the iron-rich material on the glaze surface, as compared with the more typical Hare's Fur effect, but whether this was planned or was accidental is not clear.
Is this the type of effect that Song dynasty writers meant when they talked about "Partridge Feather" Jian ware bowls? One thing is clear from looking at a large number of these things is that effects of this type are much less common than Hare's Fur streaks. This might have contributed to the mystique surrounding this pattern. Rarity invariably attracts the interest of the cognoscenti (they are a predictable lot).
That's my contribution to the debate. Personally I find bowls with this feathery brown effect somewhat more convincing candidates for "Partridge Feather" glaze than the ones put forward in the Orientations and Harvard Museums works. But since we are not able to revive the old Song authors and check exactly what they meant I am under no illusions that mine will be the last word on the topic!
Is this the type of effect that Song dynasty writers meant when they talked about "Partridge Feather" Jian ware bowls? One thing is clear from looking at a large number of these things is that effects of this type are much less common than Hare's Fur streaks. This might have contributed to the mystique surrounding this pattern. Rarity invariably attracts the interest of the cognoscenti (they are a predictable lot).
That's my contribution to the debate. Personally I find bowls with this feathery brown effect somewhat more convincing candidates for "Partridge Feather" glaze than the ones put forward in the Orientations and Harvard Museums works. But since we are not able to revive the old Song authors and check exactly what they meant I am under no illusions that mine will be the last word on the topic!
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