A superb Jizhou 'leaf' bowl, Song dynasty | 宋 吉州窰黑釉木葉天目盞

The Jizhou kilns, located in Yonghezhen, Ji’an county of Jiangxi province, a historical region known as Jizhou, were celebrated not for access to the finest raw materials, but for their extraordinary creativity in decoration. This innovation is evident in the present bowl, which features a naturalistically rendered leaf silhouette, achieved by exploiting the chemical composition of real tree leaves to create a unique impression during firing. This method gave rise to highly individualised and natural designs, reflecting the ingenuity of Jizhou potters.

For a closely related bowl, see Gugong Songci tulu. Longquan yao, Geyao ji qita ge yao/Illustrated Catalogue of Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the Palace Museum. Lung-ch'üan Ware, Ko Ware and Other Wares, Taipei, 1974, pl. 72. Another example, from the Alfred Clark collection, was illustrated in Ryūsen Shūhō / Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol. I, pl. 677, and later sold in our London rooms, 11 May 2011, lot 3.

吉州窰以裝飾技法的創新獨樹一幟，其中最具特色的莫過於將真實樹葉置於胎釉之間燒製，使其自然燒蝕後留下樹葉的剪影，造就「木葉天目」這種結合天然與人為巧思的茶盞。此法獨運匠心，成器後葉脈清晰，造型自然，為宋代天目茶盞中的異數。

參考類似的茶碗，見《故宮宋瓷圖錄．龍泉窯、哥窯及其他各窯》，臺北，1974年，圖版72。此外，一件來源於阿爾弗雷德·克拉克收藏的茶碗，著錄於《龍泉集芳：繭山七十年》，東京，1976年，卷一，圖版677，後售於倫敦蘇富比2011年5月11日，拍品編號3。