Rosewater sprinkler

This delicate mold-blown and free-blown glass sprinkler is of a shape commonly produced in Iran during the Qajar period (1779-1924). The swan-like necks of such vessels make them among the most graceful examples of Islamic glass ever produced. In their original context, they likely held scented waters, such as rosewater, which would have been sprinkled on hands and feet. Such vessels were produced in green, white and cobalt blue. Doris Duke collected examples in each color and displayed them in the vitrines of her two late-Ottoman Syrian interiors (the Syrian Room and the Damascus Room).