Water Dropper in the Shape of a Peach
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Object Label
Throughout eastern Asia, writers and painters created their own ink by adding drops of water to dry pigment. Water droppers with tiny spouts were a standard accessory for any desk, and they became one of the few decorative items that proper Confucian scholars could display in their studies without accusations of frivolity. In Korea, water droppers took many imaginative forms and their decoration often included auspicious emblems of Chinese origin, such as bats, which represent good fortune. The peach-shaped dropper here, with its copper-red decoration, is a particularly fine example; peaches are an emblem of longevity.
Caption
Water Dropper in the Shape of a Peach, last half of 18th century. Glazed porcelain with cobalt blue and copper red decoration, overall: 4 3/8 x 3 3/4 x 3 7/8 in. (11.1 x 9.5 x 9.8 cm) Height: 4 3/8 in. (11.1 cm) Width: 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm) Depth: 3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Robert S. Anderson, 1993.185.3. Creative Commons-BY
Collection
Collection
Title
Water Dropper in the Shape of a Peach
Date
last half of 18th century
Dynasty
Joseon Dynasty
Geography
Place made: Korea
Medium
Glazed porcelain with cobalt blue and copper red decoration
Classification
Dimensions
overall: 4 3/8 x 3 3/4 x 3 7/8 in. (11.1 x 9.5 x 9.8 cm) Height: 4 3/8 in. (11.1 cm) Width: 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm) Depth: 3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Robert S. Anderson
Accession Number
1993.185.3
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
What is a water dropper?
A water dropper was used to wet ink stones or blocks that needed to be moistened so that scholars could pick up the pigment with a brush to write. If you look closely, each one has a small hole at the top that would drip the water out when inverted.
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