A FREE-BLOWN COBALT BLUE GLASS ROSEWATER SPRINKLER
Late Safavid - early Qajar Iran, 18th century

Of typical pyriform shape, resting on a short splayed foot, with a globular body rising to a sinuous elongated neck ending in a flaring tear-shaped mouth, the full neck finely decorated with a rope-twisted pattern, with clear concave pontil mark to base, 31.5cm high.

This type of glass sprinklers have long been described as tear catchers, a name attributed to them by the peculiar shape of their rim. Indeed, in the Iranian folklore tradition, it seems that they were specifically gifted to young brides to gather their tears when pining their distant lovers, as a way to measure their love for them. The invention and use of tear catchers, also known as lachrymose, go back to Ancient Egypt, Persia and Rome, when these bottles would have allegedly been used in funerary ceremonies and ritual processions. The Iranian examples, though, only retain the shape and dismiss the function of their ancestors. It seems more likely to believe that they were used as rosewater sprinklers.