A SMALL 'OIL SPOT' BLACK-GLAZED CONICAL BOWL, SONG DYNASTY China, 960-1279. The deep conical sides rising from a short straight foot to a slightly everted rim, covered inside and out with a lustrous black glaze suffused with iridescent bluish silver and russet ‘oil spots’ of varying sizes, the glaze stopping above the foot, the unglazed section revealing the buff ware. Provenance: Collection of Michel Paciello, Venice. Dr. Koos de Jong, acquired from the above in 1999. Dr. de Jong is a Dutch art historian and has been privately collecting Chinese art over decades. He has authored hundreds of articles and several books on Dutch fine and decorative arts spanning from the Middle Ages to the modern era and published an extensive study of saddle rugs in Dragon & Horse. Saddle Rugs and Other Horse Tack from China and Beyond. Between 1976 and 2009 he worked for numerous museums across the Netherlands and was director of the European Ceramic Work Center in Den Bosch. Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear and firing flaws. Weight: 110.4 g Dimensions: Diameter 10.5 cm The present piece boasts a highly lustrous glaze with iridescent ‘oil spot’ markings that shift from silvery-metallic tones to russet-brown when light shines through them. Bowls of this form and covered in this ‘oil spot’ glaze are quite unusual and extremely rare. The only other known, yet slightly earlier example (to this author) is in the Roy Hu collection in Taipei. Conical bowls were intended primarily for the drinking of tea. The choice of tea during the Song and Jin periods was a white tea that was whisked to produce a white froth on top. Black-glazed bowls such as the present example became increasingly popular as they showed off the frothy white tea to great advantage. Literature comparison: Rose Kerr, Song Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2004, no. 109, p. 108. The Multiplicity of Simplicity, University Museum & Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong, 2012, no. 103, p. 255. Song Ceramics, Tobu Museum of Art, Tokyo 1999, no. 81, p. 119. 小黑釉油滴斑盞，宋代 中國，960-1279。深圓錐形，短足，向上擴延，邊緣稍稍傾斜，內側和外側覆蓋著一層發亮的黑色釉，上面覆蓋著虹彩的藍銀色和不同大小的紅褐色“油斑”，釉面停在腳上，無釉部分露出内胎。 來源：威内斯Michel Paciello收藏。Dr. Koos de Jong 1999年購於上述收藏（發票已遺失）。Drs. de Jong是一位荷蘭藝術史學家， 幾十年來他一直私人收藏中國藝術品。他撰寫了數百篇文章和幾本書，內容涉及從中世紀到現代的荷蘭美術和裝飾藝術。2013年，他在《Dragon & Horse：Saddle Rugs and Other Horse Tack from China and Beyond》中發表了有關中國騎馬裝備的詳盡研究。1976年至2009年間，他曾在荷蘭的許多博物館工作，並曾擔任登博世歐洲陶瓷工作中心的主任。 品相：品相極好，輕微磨損與燒製缺陷 重量：110.4 克 尺寸：直徑10.5 厘米