- Title
- Rosewater Sprinkler
- Date Made
- circa 1850
- Medium
- Silver, repoussé
- Dimensions
- a) Top height: 6 in. (15.24 cm)
a) Top diameter: 1 1/4 in. (3.18 cm)
b) Bottom height: 4 3/4 in. (12.07 cm)
b) Bottom diameter: 3 1/4 in. (8.26 cm)
a-b) Overall height: 10 1/2 in. (26.67 cm)
a-b) Overall diameter: 3 1/4 in. (8.26 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2013.220.9a-b
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Rosewater sprinklers, known as gulab pash, were initially used at the Mughal court in the 16th-17th centuries to celebrate the Iranian festival of Ab Pashi, which commemorated an historical rainfall that ended a drought and famine. A painting depicting the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (r. 1605-27) celebrating Ab Pashi in June 1614 is now in the Raza Library, Rampur (Album 1, folio 5a). By the 18th-19th centuries, the use of sprinklers for dispensing rosewater and other scents on honored guests at auspicious occasions had been adopted throughout South Asia and by European residents, with sprinklers being produced in various locales and in a wide range of decorative styles and media.
LACMA’s collection has three 19th-century rosewater sprinklers from Kutch (M.2013.220.9a-b, .10a-b, .13a-b). Although likely differing only a few decades in date, they exhibit a range of decorative styles. Attributed to c. 1850, this rosewater sprinkler features a spherical body atop a circular footring. The neck has two compressed globular collars near its bottom. The nozzle is supported by everted fronds and has a hemispherical flowerhead with a lotus bud finial. The elegant Kutch-style repoussé decoration on the body consists of alternating vertical panels of flowering scrolls and flowering plants. The neck has a spiral band of a flowering scroll.