A rare pair of Henan 'oil-spot' teabowls. Northern Song-Jin dynasty. photo Bonhams

Each of rounded form supported on a short footring, covered all over the interior and exterior with a rich lustrous black glaze densely suffused with a myriad of silvery'oil spots' emanating to the surface, the unglazed foot revealing the brown buff stoneware. Each: 12.8cm diam. (2). Lot 253. Estimate: HK$ 30,000 - 50,000 . US$ 3,900 - 6,400 / £2,400 - 4,000

Provenance 來源: Sotheby's London, 17 November 1999, lot 733

It is rare to find a pair of 'oil-spot' teapots in such well-preserved form. For a single bowl with similar 'oil-spot' effect, see the example illustrated in Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1994, cat. no.158. See also related examples illustrated by Robert D. Mowry,Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers. Chinese Brown-and Black-Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400, Harvard University Art Museums, 1996, cat. nos. 43, 44 and 46.

Bonhams. 27 May 2012 2 p.m. Hong Kong. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art