A RARE MUGHAL WHITE JADE BOTTLE AND COVER

18TH/19TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE MUGHAL WHITE JADE BOTTLE AND COVER
18th/19th century
Thinly carved and of elongated double-gourd form with a ribbed waist, the body of oval section divided into eight lobes by slender ribs extending from a band of petals with overturned tips below and a band of acanthus leaves above, repeated at the bottom and top of the tall, slender, tapering neck which flares slightly at the circular mouth, raised on a narrow oval foot ring, the small domed cover with hollowed bud finial, the stone translucent and of slightly greenish-white tone
7 5/8in. (19.3cm.) high

Lot Essay

This bottle vase and cover are similar in form and carving to one inlaid with sapphires and gold described as Hindustani jade in the Qing Court Collection illustrated in Jadeware (III); The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 286, no. 238. It is very likely that both of these bottles were meant to be used as a rosewater sprinkler, a type of vessel popular in Persia and India, which was also copied in China in porcelain and silver for export to the West. The present bottle is a less bulbous variation of the usual sprinkler shape, which can be seen in a pair of silver rosewater sprinklers of early 18th century date illustrated by Crosby Forbes, 'Chinese Export Silver for the British Market, 1660 to 1780', T.O.C.S., vol. 63, 1998-1999, p. 14, fig. 14.

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