Rosewater sprinkler

Object Type
The sprinkler is cast in several sections: the neck unscrews from the body and the rose at the top unscrews from the neck. The distinctive palette of vivid translucent blue and green, and the design of birds, irises and other flowers, are typical of the work of Lucknow enamellers in the 19th century.

Ownership & Use
Rosewater sprinklers have been used in the Indian subcontinent from the Mughal period (1526-1857) to the present day. Among the finest surviving examples are a 17th-century pair made of enamelled gold set with precious stones and looted from the Mughal royal treasury in Delhi in 1738 by the Iranian ruler Nadir Shah. They were sent to Russia as ambassadorial gifts three years later and are now in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. Many less sumptuous examples are to be found in public and private collections throughout the world, often made of gilt silver and sometimes also enamelled.

Time
The rosewater sprinkler belonged to a small group of Lucknow enamelled objects sent to the Great Exhibition in 1851 and was probably made specially for it. It was bought by the Museum of Ornamental Art for £10.