The iridescent surface of this tea bowl and its silvery pattern, which is known as "hare’s fur," resulted from the crystallization of the iron in the glaze during firing. Tea bowls made at Jian, as well as farther north in the Jizhou kilns, played a significant role in global ceramic history. Buddhist monks who traveled to China to study and practice brought tea bowls from these kilns back to Japan, where they became part of the tea ceremony and were often reinterpreted by Japanese potters. Known as tenmoku in the Japanese tradition, these Chinese tea bowls—and their Japanese counterparts—appeared in Europe in the late nineteenth century, where their shapes and designs were incorporated into the burgeoning studio potter movement.