Water Dropper

An ink stone dropper, also called water dropper, is a bowl that holds water to be poured into an inkstone. It was used to drop water as necessary into the ink stone or color stone when rubbing an ink stick on an ink stone to write or when dissolving paint on a color stone to paint using an ink brush. An ink stone dropper is designed to control the amount of water being poured through two holes, one of which is the mouth where the water is poured in or out, while the other is for controlling the air flow into the dropper. Porcelains were generally favored as the production material, and jade, silver, bamboo, and brass were also used. Various forms of droppers appeared since the Three Kingdoms period. White porcelain droppers were often decorated with motifs made using blue paint, copper, or iron pigment, or with engravings using openwork or intaglio and relief, thereby adding aesthetic beauty to the dropper. Droppers demonstrate the most artistic and diverse forms among stationary items, and were therefore used for both decoration and functionality. It was often stored along with other stationary items including brushes and inkstones in a stationery case.