A very rare late Song-early Yuan period tea jar. This jar has an interesting shape with a small mouth and short neck that enable it to trap the tea aroma within it. It is artistically covered with stripes of greenish black and celadon glaze, which is very thick and runs to the base to form globs, resembling the thick glaze of Song and Yuan Jun wares. A careful examination will find that the glaze forms down-flowing reddish-brown, greenish-black, and black streaks like water fall coming down from the top of a dark cave. The glaze also crackles extensively to form fine network covering the whole jar, with part of it impregnated with external matters which is commensurate with it thousand years of age. Thick glazes were highly valued during Song. The outer base is covered with a celadon glaze that is so milky as to become opaque. The interface lines between the foot wall and the glaze of the base are covered by broken rings of “kiln-red”, an orange red color formed by migration to the surface and oxidation of trace iron in the clay, an important and typical feature of ancient Chinese porcelain. (Dr. Robert I-San Lin Collection 1354, brought to California in 1960s). 6.5"x4.5"

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