Teabowl with Tortoiseshell Glaze (1100s–1200s): Art, History and Details

Teabowl with Tortoiseshell Glaze (1100s–1200s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This teacup with a so-called tortoiseshell glaze is a fine example of southern ware from Jizhou, where potters specialized in brown splashed glazes sometimes resembling partridge feathers or tortoise shells. The variety of dark glazes and vessel types produced by the Jizhou kilns are evidence of the popularity of black ware at the time. Jizhou kiln potters competed with the Jian kilns which produced almost exclusively teacups, such as the Black-Glazed Teabowl (CMA 2020.176) and the Black-Glazed Teabowl with Incised Characters (CMA 2020.175).

Object facts

• Title: Teabowl with Tortoiseshell Glaze
• Date: 1100s–1200s
• Culture: China, Jiangxi Province, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: Brown-glazed stoneware with "tortoiseshell" pattern, Jizhou ware
• Dimensions: Overall: 5.9 x 11.5 cm (2 5/16 x 4 1/2 in.)
• Collection: China - Song Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 2020.177

A detail from the museum

The Jizhou kiln site is designated as one of fifty-one Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Jiangxi province.

Collection credit

Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift

Further reading listed by the museum

• Von Spee, Clarissa. "Chinese Ceramics and Works on Paper." In The Keithley Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art, edited by Heather Lemonedes Brown, 194–229. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.