Tea Bowl

1127

1279

12

5.8

HKU.C.1953.0060

The bowl is resist-decorated on the interior with two flowers and phoenixes which are under a transparent glaze. This tea bowl was produced in the Jizhou Kiln at Yonghe Town of Jiangxi province. The Jizhou kilns in Jiangxi province were most well known for the technique of using paper cut-outs as stencils to create resist designs. The production process of this tea bowl involved leaving paper cut-outs of phoenixes and flowers on four sides of the interior to be burnt away in the kiln later during firing, while other parts of the interior were left untouched. Paper cut-outs usually featured “auspicious characters” or simple floral patterns, often spread around the sides of the bowl In this case, the phoenixes, a bird in Chinese mythology, represents harmony, prosperity, and virtue. They may also symbolize the union of yin and yang, balance in the universe. In Chinese culture, they represented the empress and can often be seen in the decorations for weddings or royalty, along with dragons, which represented the emperor due to these two creatures being symbolic of the blissful relationship between husband and wife. Furthermore, a Chinese character that means “stone” can be observed on the unglazed base of the bowl, suggesting the tea bowl is made from stone. Considering Jiangxi province was known to be an important tea-producing area and there was increasing popularity of tea-drinking in China during the Song dynasty, this stoneware is undoubtedly used for tea-drinking.