Sprinkler with Stylized Trees and a Floral Scroll

18th century

Not on view

Chinese porcelains were highly desired luxuries at courts throughout South and West Asia. The shape of this vessel, which derives from South Asian metalwork, indicates that it served as a sprinkler for rosewater or another perfume during personal and religious ceremonies. The horizontal bands of brown glaze allude to the banded decoration that often characterize objects made for this market. The stylized trees painted on the shoulder and at the foot are unusual in Chinese porcelain and may be a reference to the comparably stylized fauna in Indian painting.

Medium: Porcelain with cobalt blue under clear glaze, and brown glaze
Credit Line: Bequest of Florence Baiz van Volkenburgh in memory of her husband Thomas Sedgwick van Volkenburgh, B.A. 1866
Accession Number: 1940.217
Geography: China
Culture: Chinese
Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
Classification: Containers
Disclaimer: Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance

Florence Baiz van Volkenburgh (died 1940), New York; bequeathed to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1940

Object copyright

No Copyright - United States

Additional information

Object/Work type

bottles

Technical metadata and APIs

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