Lot 1165. A very large Jian 'hare's fur' conical bowl, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), 7 7/8 in. (20.1 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The bowl is potted with deep sides flaring upwards to the gently everted rim covered inside and out with a lustrous black glaze finely streaked with russet 'hare's fur' markings thinning to russet at the rim and trimmed to a neat line above the foot ring exposing the dark body. The base is inscribed with a character sa (thirty).The mouth rim is mounted with a metal band. 

Property from the  Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, New York

Note: Compare the Jian 'hare’s fur'-glazed tea bowl of different shape and smaller size (12.4 cm. diam.), but also inscribed on the base with the character sa (thirty), and an additional character possibly reading liu (six), jia (nine) or da (large), in the Harvard University Art Museums, illustrated by R. D. Mowry in Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 1996, pp. 209-13, no. 77.

Tea Bowl with Indented Lip, Golden Brown Hare's-Fur Markings, and Metal Rim, Song dynasty, 12th-13th century. Jian ware: dark gray stoneware with dark brown glaze, the markings in iron oxide, the lip bound with tin, the base with an incised number, and the lower portion of the bowl with a brush-written inscription reading "Shang zhai ji". From the kilns at Shuiji, Jianyang county, Fujian province. 6.7 x 12.4 cm (2 5/8 x 4 7/8 in.); Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane Fund for the Acquisition of Oriental Art, 1992.74 © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York