Shukou bowl

Form#

Rim

The defining feature is a constriction just below the rim. Describe the visible profile separately from proposed functions: interpreting it as a fill marker or a device to restrain foam requires evidence beyond the shape itself.

Body

2deep conical belly (深腹) with thick, iron-rich stoneware walls that thicken toward the lower waist and arrest the downward flow of viscous black glaze in a heavy welt above the bare lower wall

Base

3small, shallowly carved unglazed iron-colored ring foot (淺圈足 / 鐵足)

Spout

none

Handle

none

²³⁴ Numbers mark the parts described under Form.

Compare an object photograph · 國立故宮博物院 · 建窯 醬釉兔毫茶盞 · 77109

Working volume#

Distinguish a bowl’s brim volume from the smaller quantity used to prepare and drink tea. Interior profile, wall thickness and the chosen preparation method all matter. The measurements of a named museum bowl describe that object, not a standard capacity for the whole family.

Variants and sub-types#

Compare the constricted shukou rim with the flared piekou (撇口), open conical changkou (敞口) and incurved liankou (斂口) profiles. These terms describe the mouth and upper wall, not a fixed capacity or a proven distinction between court, monastic and domestic use.

History#

1. mid Northern Song–Southern Song (11th–13th c.)Becomes the dominant form at the Shuiji kilns (水吉窯) in Jianyang and the standard silhouette for court tribute bowls incised on the foot with 「供御」 ("for imperial use") or 「進盞」.²⁴
2. 12th–14th c.Adopted across Fujian, Jiangxi (Jizhou), and northern kilns, and exported to Japan where the constricted-mouth Jian bowl defines the archetype of the tenmoku (天目形) tea bowl.²³

Attributions are shown as the source states them.

Related#