A rare black-glazed 'oil spot' vase, Jin dynasty | 金 黑釉油滴玉壺春瓶

‘Oil spot’ glazes were a speciality of the Linfen, Huairen, and Jiexiu kilns of Shanxi province, which mostly used them on small bowls, possibly inspired by the rare ‘oil spot’ tea bowls of the Jian kilns of Fujian. ‘Oil spot’ vases are very rare. The markings were probably formed by applying an iron-saturated slip on the body under the glaze, a new technique developed to cater to the subtle, refined tastes of the time. With a lustrous black glaze suffused with an intricate pattern of iridescent silver spots of varying sizes, the pattern of oil-spot wares was associated with starry nights or melting snow as described in contemporaneous literature. A vessel of this form was most likely used for serving wine.  

Compare two larger vases of this type, but covered with finer rust-brown spots, one preserved in the Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no. gou ci 000158); and another in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis (accession no. 99.69.2). Oil-spot markings closely related to those on the current vase are more often found on bowls, see, for example, a bowl now in the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession no. 2365-106080).