A Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Rose Water Sprinkler c.1700.

Kangxi 1662 - 1722.

A Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Rose Water Sprinkler c.1700. From the Collection of John Drew (1933 – 2006). The narrow tapered neck is decorated with a variation of the ‘aster pattern’ or qiū jú. The aster flower symbolising autumn, endurance and elegance. Below the crenellated border are ruyi heads based on Lingzhi meaning sacred fungus. Around the bulbous base are panels containing flowering lotus in white against the cobalt blue background. Although the original of the rose water sprinkler is based on Islamic and Indian metal work forms, the Kangxi porcelain versions were popular in the Netherlands and were imported in large number. I think there function would have purely decorative, they were also popular in Persia and the Ottoman Empire.

Rosewater Sprinklers : Rosewater has been used since early times. It became important in the Middles East, the containers used to contain it known as Golabdan in Persian were made from a number of materials including glass, metal and ceramic, the earliest being of frit ware. The sweet heavy perfume of the rose has long held a poetic appeal. Roses feature often in Persian poetry, sometimes evoking both sensuality and mysticism. The poet Sa`di or Saadi (1210-1292) from Shiraz in southern Iran, wrote a poetic compilation of anecdotes entitled Gulistan (`The Rose Garden`), which is a major work of Persian literature. For Mughal manuscript of Sa`di in a Rose garden, from Gulistan, painted in c.1645 see the last two photographs. There are numerous Chinese porcelain rose-water sprinklers, many of which date from the Kangxi Period (1662-1722). Although most would have been made for the Middle Eastern market many also turn up in old Dutch collections. Jorge states “Rosewater sprinklers were initially exported to Batavia where they used as such and often provided with metal mounts. They found their way to the Netherlands as curiosities and decorative items” from Chinese Porcelain in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, The Ming and Qing Dynasties (Christiaan Jorg, Phillip Wilson, The Rijksmuseum, 1997) page 136.

See Below For More Photographs and Information.

Condition: Height 16.1 cm (5 1/4 inches).
Size: In good condition, minor shallow chips to the footring.
Provenance: Robert McPherson Antiques. The John Drew Collection. The John Drew Collection : John Drew was born in 1933 in Tideswell, Derbyshire, where his father was curate. The family moved to Norfolk whilst he was still a baby and his father became the rector of the parish of Intwood and Keswick. He was educated at Sedbergh School and after National Service in the R.A.F. being taught Russian, he went to Queens College, Oxford to read Greats (Classics). He spent nearly all his working life in various African countries as an archivist, moving to a post at Cape Town University in 1978. He remained in Cape Town after his retirement until his death in 2006. He had a great love of the English countryside (but not the climate) and this is shown in many of the pieces he collected. His taste was varied and ranged from Neolithic right through to the 18th Century. When we sent photograph to his home in Cape Town of pieces we thought he might be interested in, he would write long funny well observed letters back, wanting to add many of the items to his growing collection. Over the years we got to know him better and better, and during the last few years it was very rare for him to not want all the pieces we offered him. We knew his taste, even though his taste was so varied. This was in no small part because he had a very good eye and it was a pleasure finding things that interested him, because they were also very interesting to us. He never got to put his collection on display, something he hoped to do while on retirement in England, so it is with a mixture of pleasure and sadness that we offer these pieces from his collection this June. Each piece has a John Drew collection label, so when the collection is split up there will be some lasting record of the love and hard work he put into his two decades of collecting.
Stock number: 27424
References: Robert McPherson Antiques. Sold Archive Number 24368. An Usual Kangxi Blue and White Linglong Rosewater Sprinkler c.1690-1720.

£ 720

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