The colour of this rich matt glaze is iron-rich, and dependent on careful controlling of the firing temperature and atmospheric conditions of the kiln. The simplistic pattern is created with the use of a natural leaf, leaving an impression after firing. A similar example of a tea-bowl of a similar size, from the National Palace Museum, Taibei, is illustrated in Possessing the Past, fig. 126, p. 247.

Cf. two other bowls of the same size and also decorated with a single leaf on the interior, one in the Ataka Collection, Osaka, illustrated in Seji Taoci Quanji, vol. 12, no. 107/108; and the other in the Jiangxi Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, vol. 2, fig. 184.

(US$50,000-70,000)