A rare large Jian black-glazed temmoku bowl, Song dynasty 宋 建窰烏金釉斗笠大盌

Among the bowls made in the Jianyang kilns in present-day Fujian province, bowls of this dramatic shape and generous proportions are rare. Known as pie, this conical form with lipped rim is discussed by Robert D. Mowry in the catalogue to the exhibition Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 1995, p. 207, where he notes that this shape can be traced to the Tang dynasty (618-907) and was more suited to drinking tea prepared with fruits and spices. Unlike the more commonly known yankou wan, or narrow-mouthed bowls, pie bowls were probably not used for drinking the very popular whipped tea from Fujian, and were therefore made in smaller numbers. During the excavation at Luhuaping in Jianyang, Fujian, only three large pie bowls were recovered, against a total of 980 tea bowls, ibid., p. 217.

A bowl of similar form and proportions in the Tokyo National Museum, is illustrated in Fujiō Kōyama, Tōji taikei: Temmoku [Outlines of ceramics: Temmoku], vol. 38, Tokyo, 1974, pls 99 and 100; another example also in the Tokyo National Museum, is published in Sekai tōji zenshū/ Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 12, Tokyo, 1977, fig. 116; a third from the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, was included in Robert D. Mowry, op. cit., cat. no. 80, together with a slightly less flared example from the collection of Mrs Myron S. Falk, Jr, and Mme Ramet, cat. no. 81, also sold at Christie’s New York, 20th September 2001, lot 91.

本盞器型極具戲劇效果，寬口，口沿外撇、厚唇，兼且編制龐大，鮮見於建窰瓷。Robert D. Mowry於展覽圖錄《Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers》論及此器形，哈佛大學藝術博物館，劍橋，1995年，頁207。作者認為此器形發展於唐代，較適合作香料鮮果茶盞。有別於仰口盞，撇沿之盞應不用於流行當時之福建泡沫茶，故此製作數量較少。建窰蘆花坪遺址出土980件茶盞，僅有三件屬大型撇口盞，前述出處，頁 217。

東京國家博物館收藏一例，尺寸及器形於本品相近，圖載於小山冨士夫，《陶磁大系：天目》，卷38，東京，1978年，圖版99及100；東京國家博物館另藏一例，載於《世界陶瓷全集》，卷12，東京，1977年，圖版116；再比一例，現藏於劍橋哈佛大學藝術博物館Arthur M. Sackler Museum，載於Mowry，出處同上，編號80，同書並載以例，口沿較窄，出自Myron S. Falk, Jr夫人及 Mme Ramet收藏，編號81，售於紐約佳士得2001年9月20日，編號91；再比一例，克里夫蘭藝術博物館收藏，圖載於《The World of Ceramics》，克里夫蘭，1982年，圖版112。