Luminous Layers: Glazed Surfaces and the Art of Reflection

“Hare’s Fur” Tea Bowl, Jian kilns, Fujian Province, China, 1100–1300, Stoneware, Gift of Jay Crawford, 2020.10.10

Washington and Lee University Academics Libraries and Museums Art Museum and Galleries Exhibitions Past Exhibits Luminous Layers: Glazed Surfaces and the Art of Reflection
Art Museum and Galleries

“Hare’s Fur” Tea Bowl, Jian kilns, Fujian Province, China, 1100–1300, Stoneware, Gift of Jay Crawford, 2020.10.10

On View: September 3, 2025 – May 31, 2026
Location: Reeves Museum of Ceramics
Image (left): “Hare’s Fur” Tea Bowl, Jian kilns, Fujian Province, China, 1100–1300, Stoneware, W&L Art Museum, Gift of Jay Crawford, 2020.10.10

Luminous Layers: Glazed Surfaces and the Art of Reflection pairs historic Chinese ceramics with Cloud-Dragon Collage 4 (2023), a recent museum acquisition by contemporary artist Kelly Wang. From the streaked, lustrous depths of a Song dynasty tea bowl to Wang’s resin-layered surfaces that ripple with light, the installation reveals how makers have transformed glazes and layered media into active fields of reflection and depth. Placed in the museum’s atrium, the display mediates a dialogue between two-dimensional works and ceramics shown in the surrounding galleries, inviting visitors to consider how surface itself becomes a space of conversation across media, space, and time.

The exhibition is curated by Fosca Maddaloni-Yu, the Euchlin D. Reeves Curatorial Fellow in Ceramics. 

Fosca Maddaloni-Yu
Fosca Maddaloni-Yu
Fosca Maddaloni-Yu is a specialist in Chinese Art History with focused expertise on ceramics. She holds a Ph.D. in History of Art and Architecture from Brown University, and MAs in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) and East Asian Studies from Sapienza University. She is dedicated to promoting the study and appreciation of transcultural material histories through her curatorial practice, teaching, and public engagement. Her work emphasizes the global circulation of East Asian ceramics, transcultural artistic exchange, and the dialogue between historic traditions and contemporary art.

Art Museum and Galleries

Art Museum and Galleries

at Washington and Lee University

“Hare’s Fur” Tea Bowl, Jian kilns, Fujian Province, China, 1100–1300, Stoneware, Gift of Jay Crawford, 2020.10.10
The lustrous streaks on this Jian ware bowl, known as hare’s fur, form when iron oxide in the glaze crystallizes during firing into fine, bristling lines that resemble the guard hairs of a hare. The thick stoneware body and dense glaze not only enhanced its visual appeal but also created a tactile sensation that magnified the tea-drinking experience. Prized for preparing whisked tea in Song dynasty China, such bowls were highly appreciated in Japan, where they are known as tenmoku.

“Hare’s Fur” Tea Bowl, Jian kilns, Fujian Province, China, 1100–1300, Stoneware, Gift of Jay Crawford, 2020.10.10