19 - BLACK-GLAZED TEA CADDY, HONGTANG WARE, SONG DYNASTY

BLACK-GLAZED TEA CADDY, HONGTANG WARE, SONG DYNASTY Dimensions: Height 7,8 cm Wide 7,1 cm Depth 7,1 cm Weight: 180 grams A small stoneware tea caddy with a compressed globular body, short neck and broad outward-turning mouth. Its rounded shoulders are covered in a lustrous black glaze, broken by scattered russet-brown flecks and areas where the glaze has thinned during firing. The coating ends irregularly above the foot, leaving the reddish-brown stoneware exposed and lending the compact form a tactile quality. Black-glazed stonewares were closely associated with Song-dynasty tea culture, when the interaction of dark glaze, iron-rich clay and kiln atmosphere was appreciated for its subtle and unpredictable effects. The contrast between the glossy shoulder and exposed clay foot gives the small caddy particular visual presence.