Black-glazed Bowl with Partridge-feather Mottles

Northern Song to Jin dynasty, 12th century                

Northern Black ware, probably Henan Province

Diameter 21 cm   Height 8.4 cm.

The walls of this bowl rise elegantly from the carefully cut, slightly splayed foot to the straight lip. The black glaze was applied in two layers: the first layer covers the interior and most of the exterior stopping well above the foot to reveal the light grey clay body, the second layer covers the interior and about half of the exterior with a lustrous black glaze that in parts appears bluish-black. The interior is decorated with a dense and even pattern of partridge-feather mottles in overglaze iron oxide.

Similar Examples:

This bowl is exceptional for its lustrous bluish-black glaze and dense, dynamic pattern of partridge-feather mottles. Furthermore, among black glazed bowls of this shape, it appears to be the largest example recorded. No comparable bowl with this dense pattern of russet markings appears to be recorded. However, for a meiping of similar bluish-black glaze with partridge-feather mottles and similar light grey, mottled stoneware body in the Art Institute of Chicago, see:

Robert D. Mowry, Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers: Chinese Brown- and Black-Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400. Cambridge, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Art Museums, 1996, p. 138, pl. 35.