China, 1127-1279. The bowl has flared sides and is covered inside and out with a finely crackled dark-brown glaze splashed in amber tones in imitation of shell, stopping evenly above the short knife-cut foot to reveal the buff ware with reddish staining.

Provenance: London trade. Acquired from a private estate in Hounslow, by repute.
Condition: Very good condition with old wear, traces of use, firing flaws, light scratches.

Weight: 286.9 g
Dimensions: Diameter 15.9 cm

The remarkable glaze seen on this bowl was an innovation of the pioneering potters at the Jizhou kilns in Jiangxi province. Known as 'shell' glaze, its name was derived supposedly from its similarity to the shell of a warm-water sea turtle known as the hawksbill.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related 'shell'-glazed conical bowl from the Charles B. Hoyt Collection, and now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 50.2016, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 10, Tokyo, 1980, no. 172.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's Hong Kong, 3 December 2021, lot 2835
Price: HKD 150,000 or approx. EUR 18,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Jizhou 'shell'-glazed tea bowl, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form with a similar convex well and glaze with similar amber splashes in imitation of shell. Note the related size (15 cm).