Teabowl, Song Dynasty (960-1279). Glazed porcellaneous stoneware (Jian ware); silver alloy, Height (approximately): 8.9 cm. Gift of Dr. Edward Schulze Vanderslice, 1918. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1918-5.

Teabowl, Song Dynasty (960-1279). Stoneware with brown glaze. Approximately 3.8 × 9 cm. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Story Jenks, 1936. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1936-20-2.

Teabowl, Song Dynasty (960-1279). Glazed stoneware (Jian ware). Approximately 3.8 × 9 cm. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Story Jenks, 1936. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1936-20-3.

The styles of Chinese Jian ware (called temmoku in Japan) were widely copied in many Japanese tea utensils.

Teabowl, Song Dynasty (960-1279). Glazed stoneware (Jian ware). Approximately 3.8 × 9 cm. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Story Jenks, 1936. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1936-20-10.

Conical Teabowl, Song Dynasty (960-1279). Stoneware with brown glaze, Approximately 3.8 × 9 cm. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Story Jenks, 1936. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1936-20-11.

Teabowl, Song Dynasty (960-1279). Glazed stoneware (Jian ware). Approximately 3.8 × 9 cm. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Story Jenks, 1936. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1936-20-15.

Teabowl with Hare's Fur Glaze, Song Dynasty (960-1279). Fujian Province. Glazed stoneware (Jian ware), 7.2 × 12.3 cm. Gift of Mrs. E. Paul du Pont, 1980. Minneapolis Institute of Art, 1980-120-2.

The Song dynasty emperor Huizong (ruled 1101–26) famously noted in his Treatise on Tea (1107) that the beverage looked its best in bowls decorated with “hare’s fur” markings. The silvery brown effect was the result of excess amounts of iron oxide in the glaze crystallizing during firing.