Jian ware

Though the ceramic body is light-coloured, the wares, generally small cups for tea, bowls and vases, normally are glazed in dark colours, with special effects such as the "hare's fur" "oil-spot" and "partridge feather" patterns caused randomly as excess iron in the glaze is forced out during firing.

The Japanese term derives from Tianmu Mountain (天目山), where this type of vessel was supposed to originate from and be appreciated.

[6] Five of these vessels that originate during the southern Song dynasty are so highly valued that they were included by the government in the list of National Treasures of Japan (crafts: others).

Tastes in preparation changed during the Ming dynasty; the Hongwu Emperor (1328–1398) himself preferred leaves to powdered cakes, and would accept only leaf tea as tribute from tea-producing regions.

At the Jiyufang Laolong site (吉玉坊老龍窯), located in a village near the town of Shuiji not far from Wuyishan, Master Xiong Zhonggui has been able to restart production of Jian Zhan using original clay, after studying with Japanese maskers.

[11] On 15 September 2016 a Song Jian ware tea-bowl of the yuteki tenmoku type, long in the Japanese Kuroda family collection, was auctioned at Christie's New York for over $US11 million.

A "hare's fur" Jian tea bowl in the Metropolitan Museum of Art was made during the Song dynasty (960–1279) and exhibits the typical pooling, or thickening, of the glaze near the bottom.

[16] Notably, the Taiwanese American ceramics master Chun Wen Wang has successfully recreated the Jian ware and tenmoku styles through a mix of modern technology and ancient research.

His work has been recognized to be a faithful recreation of the Jian ware style and collected by multiple eminent international museums.